Error's Rival
by ImmortalPhantom22
Summary: Sequel to Error's Love. Summary inside
1. A New Day, A New Life

Error's Rival

Error's Rival

Chapter 1: A New Day, a New Life

**A/N: This story will make absolutely no sense unless you have read the first story: Error's Love. **

**By the way-this story will have quite a bit more cursing than the previous one, sorry about that. So just be warned. Plus, some depressing moments.**

**Summary: With Danny gone, Sam's life has been complete hell. She refuses to accept that her love has passed on, with what little hope she keeps in her heart for him to come back, Sam keeps herself alive. There are still many things that have yet to be answered; What has happened to Danny's enemies Rafael, and Venom? What about the spirits that are trapped at 'Hell's Dungeon?' And also, what really happened to Danny's mother? Read to find out! **

Danny_…the word rang through my head like a knife, it cut through my thoughts like butter, the pain I felt when I even thought of his name was unbearable. Where are you, Danny? _Sam had her hand clamped shut, holding tightly onto a small, pitch black orb. It was nearly as small as a pearl, and inside was a swirling mass of darkness. Sam could feel the ice cold orb against her skin, numbing her palm. It was as heavy as lead, and Sam felt as though it got heavier and heavier every day. _Danny…_ _Why? Why did you do it? Why was my life so important that you had to sacrifice yours so save me? _

Sam was curled up into a tight ball in the corner of her room; next to her head was a large, door sized window. She stared out into the night sky, _Danny, are you out there? Can you hear me? _She shook her head to herself, knowing that no one could hear her thoughts but her. _Is this what you wanted!? I know you say that you saved me, but you don't realize that I can't be 'alive' without you here! _She didn't know whether to be angry or not. _Please! Come back! _She closed her eyes, water filled up and began to spill from her eyes, _I can't do this…_

It had been six months since the incident. Six whole months, but to Sam, six months felt like a millennia. Day after day, fresh tears wrung from her delicate amethyst eyes, and day after day, she slowly felt herself fading into insanity. Rings hung deep around her eyes, because the nightmares always woke her in the middle of night. The terrors that replayed in her head from that dreadful week in hells dungeon, it was enough to keep her from sleeping. Her skin was gradually closing in on her bones, giving her a skeletal look from the lack of food.

It had been six months since Sam had spoken. The last word she had said was Danny's name. Sam didn't know if she could even bring herself to speak! The only sound that escaped from her lips were the sobs and cries for the boy that she loved, nothing more. As much as she hated to say this, she would rather be back at, as she liked to call it, Hell's Dungeon. At least when she was there, Danny was there with her. Sam knew that she was being selfish to think thoughts like that. Danny suffered both mentally and physically in that horrible place, and Sam still couldn't believe what had happened.

_He can't be dead. It's too unreal. _She pressed her face into her knees; _I thought that we could…live together. When we were old enough, we could have a life together! _Her body tensed with fury and pain, _why did it have to be this way!? _

The memory that haunted her more than the rest was the way Danny had said to her that he was going to die: "Sam…please listen to me…you're going to be going home, I won't be." His body started trembling as he attempted to contain his crying, "Sam…I'm going to get you home, and then…I have to go back…"

_If I hadn't been so helpless, none of this would have happened! He felt the need to protect me so strongly! If I could have showed him that I didn't need to be protected, he wouldn't have felt the need to get away from me. _Sam thought, but she also knew that she just wanted an excuse. _I think I know why Danny went to let himself die though. When he decided that he couldn't be near me, he, like me, wouldn't be able to do it. The only way Danny thought he could permanently stay away from me was to make sure that he 'couldn't' come back. _

Sam looked at the scars along her arms. Cutting herself was one way to distract her from Danny, but even that didn't last for long. Was there no way to continue without him? Sam didn't know what to do. She felt like there was nothing to live for. But, she knew that she couldn't kill herself. She had made a promise, and she knew that she had to fulfill it. That ghost named Allison that had helped me and Danny escape, _I promised her that we would free them. _Those children that were trapped in that place, Sam felt her stomach twist painfully as she thought of how much they suffered. _They were murdered in that building! And they are also trapped in there! And what's worse, some of them probably saw as more and more of the kids imprisoned there got killed. _

She knew that it had been a long time, but Sam couldn't convince herself to return to that place…not yet. It was too much to think about. She knew that eventually, she would find a way to save the spirits of Hells' Dungeon. All she had to do was destroy the place, as easy as it sounded, it was much more complicated. For now, Sam could only weep in sorrow for both the past, the present, and what was yet to come.

-Six Months Ago-

Pamela hung up the phone, and a moment later, she heard a heart-wrenched scream tear through the household. Her hand came up over her heart and she gasped, _what is that!? _Pamela ran over to the kitchen where her husband, Jeremy, was reading the newspaper at the table. "Darling? What is that!?" She cried. It was a female voice; that much she was sure of. It was…coming from upstairs? "Could it be!?"

Jeremy was up on his feet in a second and started running toward the staircase, "Sam!?" he called, but was hardly heard over the horrible cries. _Could it really be her!? _In one part of his heart, he was eager to know if it was Sam, but another part of his heart knew for a fact that the scream erupting throughout the house was not good. Pamela followed behind him as he ran down the hallway toward Sam's room. It took a few seconds to get there because their house was so large!

They knew immediately that the scream was coming from in there. It got louder as they got closer. Jeremy twisted the door handle and threw the door open, "Sam?"

"DANNY!!" The name tore through the air like lightning. Sam was on the floor, her appearance was quite less than presentable on so many levels, but they didn't care. Pamela and Jeremy were shocked by the fact that their daughter was home! But even more shocked and concerned at how she was acting. Sam's eyes rolled back, and she collapsed into that of a limp doll. Her screams ceased.

"Sam!" Jeremy cried, running to his daughter, and dropping next to her, "Sam!" he screamed again and lifted her head into his lap. "Sam, speak to me! Sam!" He put a hand on her forehead; she was burning up, "Pam! Call an ambulance! Hurry!" Once Pamela had run out of the room, Jeremy put his hand over Sam's heart, making sure that she had a heartbeat, then watched her chest move up and down, checking to make sure she was breathing as well. "Sam," he spoke slowly to her unmoving form, "if you can hear me, just relax. It'll be alright, stay strong, baby." He caressed her cheek gently, trying to somehow let her know that he was there.

Jeremy looked up and turned his head to see if Pamela was back yet, but she wasn't. _Come on! Where the hell is she!? _He turned back to Sam and looked at her outfit. She was wearing her prom dress…or at least, what was left of it. He didn't know if he could even still call it a dress, it was torn up and shredded terribly. _What happened to you? _

Pamela rushed back into the room, "they're on their way!" she quickly assured Jeremy, then ran up alongside him, "what's happened to her?" she asked, putting her hand over her mouth in horror at the condition Sam was in. Well, Sam herself was perfectly fine, no bruises or cuts of any kind, but her outfit was a whole different story.

"I don't know…" Jeremy replied, "But that doesn't matter right now! She needs to get to a hospital! She's in shock; her temperature is through the roof!"

"Why is she in shock?"

"How the hell should I know!?"

Pamela flinched, and then replied quietly, "I'm sorry."

"No, don't be. I'm sorry I yelled." Jeremy looked at their daughter, "I just don't know what to do."

When the ambulance showed up, Pamela quickly brought the medics upstairs to Sam's room. She had been told by the medics on the phone to _not _move Sam. Pamela didn't know why, but she didn't ask questions. She figured that these men knew what they were doing; at least, she truly hoped that they did.

A stretcher was brought into Sam's room and placed next to her; the men carefully put her on it before lifting it again and rushing her to the ambulance. Pamela and Jeremy came in the back of the vehicle with her, and the medics took off right away.

While the men went to work checking her blood pressure, pulse, and other such things, questions were being thrown at Jeremy and Pamela nonstop; Questions about her medical history, and just questions about what happened. Jeremy answered, but when it came to answering about what happened, he simply answered, "I don't know." He didn't want to bring up the fact that she was gone, but decided that it might be of some help to them, "she's been gone for about a week. We don't know exactly where she went, but we found her in her room like this."

Jeremy held his wife in his arms when they arrived at the hospital and Sam was rolled into the hospital away from them. He didn't want to get in the way of the doctors, so he figured that it was best for them to sit down in the waiting room. As much as he wanted to be by his daughter's side, this was better for both of them.

"Darling," Pamela said softly, wiping away a tear from her eye with a nearby Kleenex, "I'm…afraid."

"I know." Jeremy held her tighter, "I am too."

--

The doctor walked out into the waiting room to meet Sam's parents. Both Jeremy and Pamela stood up the minute they saw him walking to them, "is Sammykin's alright!?" Pamela frantically inquired, "what's wrong!? Did anything bad happen!?"

The doctor had light brown hair that reached to his ears, and hazel eyes, probably in his mid thirties. He held up a hand to silence Pamela, "Your daughter is fine; we managed to bring her temperature down. It was nearly at a hundred and five, but she's fine now. She went into severe shock. We will want to keep her overnight at the least to make sure she doesn't spike a fever again. She is asleep right now, but you can go see her."

Jeremy nodded, "thank you sir."

The doctor showed them where Sam was being kept. The room was made for patients, obviously, but it was pretty basic. White walls, a little equipment near the white bed, but not the heavy duty stuff. Sam lie on the bed, a blanket was placed on top of her. To her parent's great relief, she wasn't hooked up to any machines. Two chairs were brought up next to Sam's bed, and the doctor whispered to Sam's parents, "If you need anything, you can click the red button there to page the front desk." He pointed to a red button next to the bed, and then with a small smile, he left the room.

"Sammy," Pamela sat down in one of the chairs and put her hand on top of Sam's hand, squeezing it slightly, "Honey, we're here for you, baby. Alright? Just rest for now, you're going to be alright."

Pamela and Jeremy both looked at each other when they heard a small groan from their daughter. They both leaned in to listen to her, and could distinctly make out what she said: "Danny…"

-Present Time-

Sam hardly showed up for school, but she did show up a few times. She was now in her senior year; however, already she was off to a bad start. School had ended shortly after the prom, but Sam didn't attend school for the rest of her junior year. The summer vacation had just as slowly gone by. But Sam figured that she ought to go to school at one point. Danny didn't die for her so that she could mope around at home all day; she knew that Danny wouldn't want her to skip school. But, even though she attended, that didn't mean she had to put effort into her work.

The school counselors had tried to get Sam to talk to them about her recent _problems_. But she still refused to talk. They tried to cut her some slack, but that could only go so far. They couldn't give her an A for a grade when she was clearly failing, so they had no choice. Her teachers easily picked up on the fact that she didn't want to learn anything there, but they could tell by her past grades that something must have happened. She was a straight A student up till the past half year.

Sam got Lancer as her English teacher again, and even he had her stay after class one day to talk to her, but didn't succeed. He figured that Sam would come around eventually.

Now, Sam was sitting in her seat that was located in the back corner of the room, just moments before school was to start. She had a hood pulled over her head to mask her face from everyone, and pulled out a sketch pad and started to draw. She was pretty good at sketching, and _this _entire sketch pad was full of drawing of Danny and just everything she could possibly get onto paper from their adventures; Except for the events six months ago. Sam had sketches of Danny holding her in his arms, flying her high above the city in the night. She had a sketch of the two of them sitting on the top of a building, staring at the sun rise. She had sketches of Venom, both the good and the bad side of him. And so on.

She didn't even notice that class had started. Lancer started talking to the class about Romeo and Juliet, everyone in the class was supposed to read the first thirty pages and write a summary about it. Sam, of course, didn't bother. But, something caught her attention at one point in the class. The door to the classroom opened and a person stepped inside.

"Uh…is this Lancer's classroom?" It was a male voice, Sam could tell that by not even looking.

"Yes it is. Are you new here?"

"Yeah. My schedule says that I have your class."

"Ah, well, great then! Why don't you introduce yourself?" Lancer gave the invitation.

Sam looked up at this point. It reminded her of when Danny was the new kid, and had to introduce himself. The memory made her heart sink with sadness. When she saw the kid, the first thing she noticed was the outfit he had on. The new kid was African American; he was wearing large glasses, a long sleeve tan shirt, and green shorts, along with a red beret on his head.

The new kid looked at everyone in the classroom and gave a nervous smile, "my name is Tucker. Tucker Foley. T.F, as in Too Fine." He confidently said those last words, as if he had rehearsed them all the time. (A/N: Sorry, I couldn't resist adding Tucker's T.F line! )

Sam raised an eyebrow, he was a weird kid, but there was something about him that caught her interest. She returned to her doodling and sketches, ignoring the rest of the class period.

-Lunch-

Sam spent her lunch time outside, even today when it was cloudy, wet, and cold. She hated to eat lunch in the lunchroom, for several reasons. But, of course, she never really ate lunch. She hardly ate _at all_. But at the moment, she was leaning against a tree, staring at the nearby park. There were several parks in this city, and this was one of the smaller ones, just a clutter of trees and a playground, nothing special.

Her backpack was resting beside her, she had a few things in there that came in handy every once in a while. Sam was looking at the trees when she noticed something. She squinted her eyes in attempt to get a better look, and then she clearly saw movement. Someone was hiding behind the trees. A kid maybe? No, they had school today as well. Who was it?

Most people would just shrug it off and pay attention to something else. But for Sam, she was much more cautious and never shrugged off anything. She casually acted like she was looking around her while also reaching into her backpack. In a flash, Sam whipped her arm out of her pack with a gun now in her hand, aimed and fired, faster than eyes could follow. A green beam came out of the barrel of the gun and went exactly where she wanted it to.

Sam heard a scream. She now knew that it was a ghost. The gun she fired was an ecto gun that only ghosts could feel; it did absolutely nothing to humans. She got up on her feet, continuing to hold the gun up, and began to walk over to the trees cautiously.

**A/N: How was the first chapter? Good? Bad? Please tell me what I need to improve on!**

**Alright! Tucker is now a character in the story! I'm looking forward to having him in here! I hope that you'll enjoy reading about him as well. I didn't think that he would fit with the last story, but I'm hoping he will in this one. **

**Okay, and I have to say this: I am such an idiot for taking honors classes this year! And because of that, I don't have a ton of time to work on my story, but I will do my best. I really hope that you will all cut me a little slack. **

**Please review!! **

**-Desi-**


	2. It's Never Impossible

Error's Rival

Error's Rival

Chapter 2: It's Never Impossible

**A/N: Someone had asked me what Hell's Dungeon was. I don't know if I made that clear, but that is what Sam calls the S.E.H.S building, the 'dungeon' where her and Danny were kept. **

Sam opened her mouth, wanting to yell out, 'who's out there!?' or something similar, but the words didn't seem to form on her tongue. Nothing came out, not a single syllable. So, she continued to walk toward the trees, glancing left and right. She knew that ghosts could be really tricky sometimes and often really smart. She opened her mouth _again, _trying once again to speak, but failed again.

"I do not mean to cause harm, Samantha Manson."

Sam recoiled, spinning around in circles in search of the ghost, but had no luck in seeing her. The voice was so close, almost as though it was spoken right into her ear. _Why can't I see you!? _Sam asked herself, _where are you!? _

"I am here, but I cannot allow you to see me. I am sorry."

_Wait! You heard my thoughts!? _

"Yes, I did." The female voice replied.

Sam continued to hold the gun tightly in her hand, not letting up the slightest bit. _Who are you!? What are you doing here!? And why the hell are you in my head!? _

"I could see that you couldn't talk through tongue, so I have a different method. It is forbidden to use, but I suppose this is the only way to communicate with you."

While glaring at nothing, Sam was slowly walking in circles, not wanting to get snuck up on, _you didn't answer my question. Who are you? _

The female sighed, "I am sorry, I cannot say my name. It is forbidden."

_So what _isn't _forbidden!? Whatever, what about my other questions!? What are you doing here!?_

"It was Danny's last request of me that I watch over you."

Sam nearly fell over, _D-Danny? Y-you spoke to Danny? When!? Where!? _

"It was shortly before he…passed away. I was there with him, well, not technically there, but I was speaking to him. He was very worried about you."

A pang of agony shot Sam through the heart when she heard the lady say 'passed away.' She still couldn't believe it. _What did he say? _She wasn't sure if she wanted to know, but she asked anyway. Suddenly, Sam heard Danny's voice in her head. The ghost lady somehow transferred her memory of their conversation into Sam's head. _"Did I do the right thing? By letting Rafael kill me, Sam will be safe, right?"_ Sam heard Danny sigh, _"I'm going to miss her."_ His voice cracked slightly before his next line, _"do you think she'll ever forgive me?"_ There was a pause, and then Danny's voice came up again, _"I…feel weird…" "Oh my god…"_ Danny gasped _"I'm…dying…I'm going to die…I don't want to die!"_ He shouted. _"I can't leave Sam! I can't!" _He cried out, _"Sam!!" _

Sam felt tears fill her eyes, _Danny…_she was shaken by the words that she had just heard, his desperate words, his heart filled words, his concern. What really got to her was when she heard _"do you think she'll ever forgive me?" _She didn't know why Danny would even think that she wouldn't forgive him! In fact, there was no need to forgive him for anything! He did nothing wrong! Sam felt her hands drop to her sides, and the gun slid from her grip, landing with a thud on the grass. She dropped to her knees, and put her hands over her face, hunching over as she sobbed. _He…said my name. His last words were 'I can't leave Sam.' He said my name before he died. _She couldn't imagine how hard it would be for him. Was it harder to know that you're leaving the one you love, or to know that the one you love is leaving you?

"Sam. I am merely here to watch over you and keep my promise to Danny, I told him that I would, and that is what I intend to do. I do not wish to get in the way."

She couldn't respond, she wept in place, almost completely ignoring what the ghost said. _Danny's…dead…Even after six months, I can't see the truth? Why? _She felt a cold hand come over her shoulder, she looked up with tear filled eyes, but saw no one there. _Is it horrible to have my hopes up so high? Is there even a chance that Danny might not…be dead? _

"I'm sorry, Samantha. But, coming back to life from the dead is…impossible." The ghost was shocked when Sam's shoulders shook with slight laughter, although it wasn't happy laughter, it was more of a crying laugh. "Is something amusing?"

_Impossible. That's a strange word. And if you know Danny, you should know that the impossible is always possible. I've seen many things that are considered 'impossible.' And yet, they happened. _

The ghost shook her head, "Sam, don't give up hope, but don't let that hope run out of your reach either." She took her hand off of Sam, and left.

Sam heard the bell that lunch was over in the background, but she gave it no attention at all. She could feel the tiny raindrops begin to fall from the clouds overhead; she almost wanted to scream at the weather and tell it to stop crying! What did the weather have to cry about? Sam then realized how idiotic she was being and let her clothes become damp in the rain. What started out as a light sprinkle soon became larger, penny sized droplets that bounced across the grass and the concrete with musical notes.

Sam opened her eyes and looked up, feeling her eyelids twitch each time a raindrop came close to hitting her eyes. She felt her hand come up and wrap around the orb around her neck, _Danny, you'll always be with me, no matter what. But…what use is it if our love is only a one way street? What use is it to me that you are gone? You were able to leave, with me in your heart the entire time, but how long will I keep hope for you? Will I move on one day and forget the feeling in my heart? I miss your ice cold skin against mine when you hugged me, and I miss the rush of adrenaline I received when you took me flying in the middle of the night. Are all of my memories for nothing? What use will they be if you're not around to share them? _

Sam slowly pulled herself up, waiting to regain feeling in her legs before walking over to the backpack next to the tree that was in front of the school. She dropped down next to it, and leaned her back up against the tree. She wrapped her arms around herself to stay warm; she wasn't in the mood to put up with hypothermia. Sam didn't bother to go back to class however; she figured that it wouldn't matter if she stayed out here. The tree managed to stop some of the rain from falling on her because of the multiple branches. Sam knew that she had dropped her ecto gun over on the grass across the street, she shrugged it off. Sam stared into the distance, waiting for the school day to end so that she could go home.

_Danny, if you're dead, wouldn't you be a ghost? Ghosts can come to earth, right? So where are you? Why haven't you come? _Sam immediately thought of the Ghost Zone. She had been in there once before with Danny, after they had escaped from Hell's Dungeon, which was also the place where Danny had saved her life, while also ripping out her heart from her chest. _The Fentons have a ghost portal, right? It leads to the ghost zone, so…if Danny is in there, and their ghost portal was closed, he couldn't get out. But that doesn't mean that I can't go IN. _

-Next Day-

Today, unlike the day before, was a sunny day. Sam had a slight cold from being careless in the rain and freezing temperature, although it really wasn't much. During lunch, Sam sat in the exact same spot, under the shade of the large tree in front of Casper High. Everyone that had lunch this period was outside, sitting somewhere on the grass.

To Sam's huge annoyance, it was loud. She liked it when it was quiet much more. She could hear the preps and jocks sitting together near the fence that surrounded the football field, and they were all sitting on a blanket. Sam scoffed at how pathetic they were. Dash was the leader jock, the captain of the football field, and also the best known school bully. But now when Sam looked at Dash, she didn't see a bully, she saw a childish boy that was looking for attention, while also impressing his friends by looking tough.

The men that Sam had dealt with in Hell's Dungeon would put Dash to shame. Dash bullied people because it was his only way to have others fear and respect him, the men at Hell's Dungeon would kill others without batting an eye. They murdered endlessly without resentment, and they did it just because they could, and at the same time, did it because they thought it was the only thing they could do. Who knows how much they were brain washed with all of the shit that Rafael wanted others to know. Those men saw Rafael as a god, and followed him to so-called glory. Sam knew for a fact that Dash would never fall that low.

When Danny was still new to this school, Dash had picked a fight wit him. Danny didn't want to fight, Sam knew that right away, and jumped in the way of them. Dash had accidentally struck Sam, and she remembered the look in his eyes when he realized what he had done. He was shocked, guilty and resentful. Then Sam had an encounter with three men in Hell's Dungeon, one of them pulled out a knife and pierced it painfully into her shoulder. The look in that man's eyes was pure joy at the sight of Sam in pain, he felt no guilt, and that was something Dash could never be.

Sam heard the squeaky voice of the Latino prep known as Paulina. Any man within a mile radius had their jaws drop to the floor at the sight of her. She was beautiful, plain and simple. Of course there were others in the two groups that sat together, but those were the main ones there. Paulina whispered something to the others, and they started giggling.

"Hey, Kwan, have you sent that new kid yet?" Dash spoke to his friend Kwan.

"Yeah; That nerdy guy?"

"What do you say we welcome him properly." He and Kwan chuckled.

_As Sam came closer to the action, she could hear grunts and cries from someone. She got to the front and saw Danny standing there, blood coming out of the side of his mouth, and surrounding him were a group of football players/jocks. They towered over him easily._

_Danny's eyes were wide while he stared at the jocks._

_Each jock took a turn at punching Danny; he did his best to dodge them, and did not fight back. But even while avoiding the fists being thrown at him, he still got a few hits._

Dash came forward, "We thought that we should welcome you to Casper High properly." he laughed along with the rest of his group. He raised his fist, flexing his large muscles and aimed at Danny. His fist hit Danny in the face. (Error's Love chapter 4)

Sam's eyes narrowed, she knew that Danny healed fast, but that didn't change that fact that Dash hurt Danny. He was the new kid back then, and now Dash had a new target…She turned her head and saw the new guy walk out of the school. He scanned the area for a place to sit, then began to walk in their direction. _Damn it! You couldn't go the other way!? _She didn't like the fact that this kid would get beat up by those idiots. He was a scrawny kid, definitely not a huge fighter. She noticed that in his hand was what looked like a PDA of some sort. Hopefully, it wasn't too expensive. Sam then realized that she was feeling…_concerned. _Why? What was so special about this kid that she was worried about him?

Dash and Kwan both grinned at each other, giving their friends the heads up to 'watch this.' And got up, getting ready to confront the teen.

The boy known as _Tucker_ was carefully holding his brand new PDA as he searched for a place to sit. Rather than eat lunch, he wanted to check out his new 'baby,' but was soon face to face with two of the school football players. He had to crank his neck up slightly to look at them in the eye, "hey," the kid waved his hand nervously, "what's up?" a droplet of sweat ran down the side of his face.

"You're that new kid, aren't you?" Dash smirked.

"Y-yeah."

Kwan decided to speak, "in that case, it's Casper High tradition that you receive a welcoming gift from us. Everyone does."

Dash cracked his knuckles loudly, while Kwan brought his right fist into the palm of his left hand in a punching motion. Tucker gulped, glancing down at his _baby_, he didn't want her to get scratched! She was brand new! Too late.

He didn't even see the attack come, Tucker just suddenly felt his whole body falling backward, and a stinging sensation on his cheek where Dash's fist hit. He landed on his back, and his PDA flew out of his hand. Tucker rubbed the aching spot on his face; he could still feel the punch there, burning on his skin. Tucker let out a weak moan, and got back up onto his feet.

A few people noticed the fight starting and inched in closer to watch from the sidelines. Tucker looked up at Dash, "Isn't fighting against the rules!?" He barked, but then got a punch to the mouth by Kwan, he felt his body lose balance for a moment, his jaw aching. "Dude! What the hell!?" He straightened up and wiped away the droplet of blood that leaked from the corner of his lip. He kept glancing back at his _baby_ to make sure no one stepped on her. "Do you really want to do this?" Tucker challenged, "I mean, if you were caught attacking the new kid at school, I'm guessing that you would get suspended."

The people watching and listening chuckled. _Dash? In trouble for beating up someone? Ha! That's a new one! _Everyone knew that he was a very important member of the school because he was the football captain, which _apparently _was a big deal.

"Actually, yeah," Dash replied, "I really do want to do this." He grinned, "It's what I do best. And I can guarantee that I won't get caught, because one: no one is going to be ratting me out. And two: The school wouldn't suspend me anyway."

"Hm, I guess that is a problem." Tucker replied, "What did you do? Tell the principle that you would shove her head in the toilet if she reported you? No, seriously, I want to know." He folded his arms across his chest.

"You know what? You're starting to bug me." Dash took a step forward, "I don't like when people back-talk me."

Kwan came up behind Tucker unnoticed, then brought his foot up and kicked Tucker in the small of his back, causing him to fall forward onto the sidewalk cement. His hands came forward to catch himself, but received a painful skid that tore some skin from his hands. He winced, flipping over so that he was face up, before a great amount of force was kicked into his ribs. Tucker cringed and brought his arms around where he was kicked.

Dash came up beside Tucker, "here's a friendly reminder: Don't challenge me! I run this school, so you better stay out of my way! And another thing," he brought his leg back, "the new kid always has the honor of doing my homework each night!" he kicked Tucker again. "Got that?"

Tucker's eyes met Dash's, "sure, _whatever_. I'll do all of those things, except do your homework. Get some other kid to do your shit for you." At this, Dash grabbed a fistful of Tucker's shirt and lifted him off the ground.

"What did you say to me!?"

"Are you def as well as stupid? I'll repeat: I'm not going to be a dog that you can order around."

A loud snarl escaped Dash's lips, his face twisted with anger. With all his might, Dash pulled one of his arms back and struck Tucker in the gut, then dropped him to the ground.

Tucker had the air ripped out of him, and he fell to his knees while trying to breathe, his arms clutching his stomach. For a few, horrifying seconds, he couldn't get one breath of air, it's a scary feeling at that point, as much as you try, no air will come in. But then, finally, oxygen fills your lungs and the pounding in your heart calms down slightly.

But Dash wasn't done _yet_. He motioned for Kwan to step aside and let him do this; he wanted to be the one to beat this guy to a pulp. Dash stopped dead after stepping forward, because he couldn't continue forward. Sam stepped between Tucker and him; her eyes murderously glaring at him, warning him to stay back.

"Wow Manson, first the dorky Fenton kid and now this guy? It seems like all the guys you stand up for are the weak kids. Why do you suddenly feel the need to be the _hero_?" He barked a laugh, "What am I saying? You're no hero, you drove that Fenton kid out of here in less than a year. I guess he finally got fed up with hanging out with you or something." He didn't realize that Sam's anger was burning to a hell's fire temperature.

Sam remained standing where she was, almost daring Dash to take a swing at her _again_. She wasn't sure why she felt the need to get in the middle of this, but she did it anyway.

Dash continued with his comments, "I read about you in the newspaper you know? A while back, after the prom."

That sent a sharp pound through Sam's chest, _Prom. That was when I…hurt Danny. _It was extremely vague to her, mostly because she was being controlled by Venom, and he made her attack Danny. She remembered Danny's eyes, hurt both physically and mentally. He didn't fight back; he remained still as Sam continued to tear him up! She had fought desperately against the source that controlled her, but it was no use, the power was too strong. That was a horrible night, and she hated to think about it.

"In the paper, your parents reported you missing. As well as Fenton." He seemed to enjoy speaking about this to Sam, "did you know that the guy you knew isn't really a Fenton? He is not really a member of that family; the government had no records of him."

_They…they knew? How did the police found out about that!? What else do they know!?_

"You were both gone for a while, and yet, only one returned. So, my guess is that either he rejected you and ran off, or…you killed him. Hm," he chuckled, "both sound so interesting."

Sam bit her lip. _Did I kill him? I know that I would never EVER directly do anything to hurt him, but in a (big) way, it was my fault that he died. _

"It's better that he's gone anyway. He was an idiot, and if you hadn't gotten rid of him, I sure as hell would have."

Sam wanted to scream in fury to Dash, _shut the hell up you walking piece of shit! How dare you insult _my _Danny! You may be afraid to hit a girl, but I got no problem beating the crap out of a guy! _She gritted her teeth and lunged forward.

**A/N: Did the characters seem a little out of place? I changed Tucker a little, because I didn't want him to be completely helpless. In my mind, Tucker is definitely a fighter, but not a **_**physical **_**fighter.**

**Thank you all so much for your reviews! It makes me very happy! **

**Please review, and tell me what you think! And PLEASE let me know of anything I did wrong! I would really appreciate it! And I will update as soon as possible! D**

**-Desi-**


	3. Violent Revenge

Error's Rival

Error's Rival

Chapter 3: Violent Revenge

Sam gritted her teeth and lunged at Dash, she went full force into his muscled body, and somehow managed to bring him down. Dash landed at least a few feet away from her, eyes wide in shock. With humiliation, he started to get back up, but didn't get far because he suddenly had a figure land on top of him.

_Have a taste of your own medicine! _Sam pinned him down on the ground, and her fist connected with his nose, clearly hearing a snap but didn't stop at that. She stood up, and with her heavy combat boot she kicked the football player multiple times in the side. Sweat and tears of hatred ran down her face; _don't ever talk about Danny like that! I'm getting tired of you thinking that you're the leader around this school! I'm not going to let that go on! _She wasn't sure if she was trying to stand up for herself, or for everyone who had been bullied by Dash in the past. Whatever the reason, Sam continued to fight. Something inside of her was just doing this for revenge, while another part of her awakened. Everyone has a demon somewhere in themselves, a horrible part of the mind that longs for the thrill of doing terrible things. Most people can keep that demon contained, and Sam had done a good job of doing that until now. She didn't know exactly what she was feeling, but mostly, her heart was cold with hatred.

Dash felt warm ooze run out of his nostrils, and had bruises forming where Sam repeatedly kicked him. When he realized that Sam wasn't going to stop anytime soon, he brought his leg back and swung it at Sam, knocking her feet from under her, causing her to fall to the ground with a grunt. "Damn, bitch!" He took the moment to wipe away the blood on his face, "what the hell is wrong with you!?"

Sam, of course, ignored his comment, and stood up once more. A bruise was beginning to form on her shin where she was struck by his leg, but it didn't hurt that much. She gritted her teeth, and waited for Dash to get up as well. Kwan came up beside Dash to give him a hand standing up, and then they both turned to Sam. _Hmm, two against one. _Sam thought to herself, _still not a threat. _

"Normally I don't like to hit a girl, but I'll make an exception in this case." Dash smirked, and the next thing Sam knew, two other football players/jocks came up behind her and each grabbed one of her arms, holding her in place. Sam snarled and struggled against their hold, but it was no use. Dash walked forward.

Sam's eyes met his, _go ahead. I dare you! _She knew that Dash didn't have the guts to hit her while she was defenseless, he would gladly do it to a guy, but if he was seen beating up a girl, that would not be good for his image. Everyone's eyes were wide with horror, wondering if Dash would really hurt her. Even though nobody really cared for her, and she was basically invisible to them, they didn't think that made it alright for such actions.

Tucker stood off to the side, he held onto his aching stomach where Dash had kicked him, and looked around at everyone. Wasn't someone going to go get help!? He desperately wanted to run and get a teacher, but he also didn't want to leave this girl here by herself with these guys. When he saw a few guys grab onto the girl and hold her still, he knew that he couldn't continue to stand on the sidelines. He bent down to the ground and grabbed onto a nearby rock that he could wrap his hand around. It was smooth, and quite small, but large enough that it would _hurt_!

He brought his arm with the stone back, and flung it forward. It managed to collide with Dash's temple, opening up a small gash. Tucker winced slightly, wondering if he threw it a little too hard, but noticed that Dash's attention turned, which was what he hoped for. "Wow dude, I've known you for less than a day, but already you've hit an all time low. Attacking a girl? Man, that's not cool."

Sam glared at the new kid, _What are you doing!? Do you have a death wish? I didn't stick up for you so that you could go right back to what you were doing! _

Kwan came toward Tucker, "I suggest you keep quiet, kid." He spoke for Dash.

Tucker glanced over to the girl that was being held, her eyes spoke for her. The pain and suffering that hung around them was easily seen above all else, but underneath that, Tucker could see that she was brave and smart. Dash had been talking to her about a guy named Danny, and Tucker saw that the girl had been hurt by his words. Whoever this guy was, he meant something to her; Tucker could see that. "Just leave her alone guys. This has gone too far." A few people in the crowd nodded in agreement.

Dash smirked, "this isn't over, new kid." He nodded to his teammates, and they released Sam from their grip, letting her fall to her knees then walked to Dash. He looked over at Sam, who was murderously glaring at him from her knees, "same goes for you, Manson." He turned to his group of jocks, "let's go." They began to move away from there, and the preppy girls followed them as well.

The group of students that had grouped up around there began to disperse, realizing that the fight was over, so there was nothing else to watch. Tucker jogged over to the girl on the ground, "hey, you alright?" She was leaning forward on her hands and knees, her hands clenched up, grabbing a hold of grass under her hands. It looked as though she was suffocating the small plants with her grip. Tucker put a hand on her shoulder, and repeated, "Are you alright?"

Sam pulled her shoulder back, forcing the guy to release her, and then she slowly worked her way to her feet. While still staring at the ground, she began to walk over to where her backpack was beside the tree. Tucker was just about to walk after her, but then realized he had forgotten something, he gasped and looked around frantically. A few yards away, his precious baby was laying face flat, and he ran over to her and scooped her up into his arms. She didn't seem to be damaged, which made Tucker feel so much better! Then, Tucker walked over to the girl beside the tree.

"Listen, uh…thanks for standing up for me over there." Tucker nervously smiled, "my name is Tucker, but you probably already knew that. So, what's your name?"

Silence. Sam didn't even look up at this guy; she stared off into the distant, as though nothing had happened. She just went back to her usual thoughts of Danny.

"Not much of a talker, are you?" Tucker asked, then he sighed, "can I sit here?" no reply again, so he sat about a foot from where Sam was sitting. "You live here your whole life?" he knew that she wasn't going to respond, but he spoke anyway, "I just moved here from Detroit, this place is really nice. Well, _that _guy isn't really, but other than that, this place is really great. So…what do people do for fun here? Well, I don't leave the house much. Most people call me a techno-geek, and stuff, which I guess is kind of true. I'm an only child, do you have any siblings? Don't know about you, but I kind of like being an only child." He chuckled.

No respond. Tucker then noticed the orb around her neck, it was kind of odd looking, considering that it was just a ball on a string, but what made him even more curious was the fact that it looked like there was a bruise on her skin where the orb rested. He thought maybe it just looked like it from the shadow or something. "That's a nice necklace, what's it made of?"

At this, Sam's head shot up and looked at him with wide eyes. He couldn't tell if she was shocked or sad at his comment. Her hand came up and grabbed onto the orb. She could feel the tears welling up, and to keep this guy from worrying, she stood up and ran away from him.

"Hey!? Where're you going!?" He exhaled deeply, noticing that she left her backpack there.

Lunch wasn't over yet, so Tucker pulled his PDA up to eye level. He had almost everything he could possibly imagine on this thing! It was crazy awesome! But, instead of playing solitaire or something, he went to the Amity Park News webpage, and typed in the name 'Fenton.' He had heard Dash refer to someone as Fenton, and that seemed to have set that girl off. Dash had also said that he _read about her in the newspaper_, or something. He was curious if this had anything about him. And to his ultimate surprise, there was a headline that said "Two Casper High Students Go Missing." Below that was a small line, "Casper High School's Prom Night, and two never made it home." The main parts that Tucker read over were when they mentioned the names "Sam Manson," which he knew was that girl because Dash had called her Manson. And then another name, it said "Danny Fenton."

He saw that the next day had news on this Fenton guy as well. Apparently, his family was being accused of kidnap, because Danny Fenton _apparently _didn't exist. There were no records of him any time before Amity Park. Tucker found that interesting, but the newspaper didn't have a whole lot on it. Then he saw that a little over a week later, there was another headline that stated: "One of the two teens is found" And reviewed the previous week's news. Sam Manson was said to be accused of murder by the police department, because of the obvious reasons; two teens run away, and only one returns. What else is there to think? That is the first thing that comes to most people's minds.

Tucker turned off his PDA, _well, at least now I know why she flipped out like that. I'm guessing that this Fenton dude was like…a boyfriend or something. But what I don't get is…what happened to him? Was she always this depressed and quiet? Or was that after _this _happened? _He didn't know, but what he _did _know was that she could use a friend.

-Fenton Works-

Jazz felt her body shake, and sat up abruptly, her eyes opening as she did so. "What?" She asked, not yet knowing why she woke up however. She realized that she was sitting up at the kitchen table, with a book opened up on the table. Jazz had a slight pink mark on her face from where her head had been resting on it. She looked up at her mother, Maddie.

Maddie stood beside the young adult, "Hi honey, good morning." She smiled, "did you sleep here all night?"

"All night?" Jazz looked up at the clock located on the far wall; it was five in the morning, "wow. I must've fallen asleep while I was reading. Sorry." She yawned, reaching her arms over her head and stretching her muscles. "Any news from dad?"

Maddie shook her head, "no. I haven't heard from him yet. I'm getting worried; he hasn't contacted us at all."

"Mom, I'm sure he's fine. He'll call, don't worry about it."

Her mother looked down for a moment and then decided to change the subject, "what were you reading?" She reached forward and picked up the book on the table, then looked at the cover, "_Split Entities, a guide to the supernatural_? What is this, Jazz?"

"I've been reading as much about supernatural beings and ghosts for a little while now. Maybe there is something that…maybe there is something that we missed that we couldn't see before. I'm not sure, but I feel like there is something missing with our theory."

"Jasmine, there is nothing missing. Your father and I are sure of it. Danny's gone, I'm sorry, but we're going to have to accept that." She blinked a few extra times, containing the tears in her eyes. She tried so hard to be strong about this, but even now it was still hard. "Our readings were clear; his ecto energy vanished from all of our charts."

"But why? I mean, when someone dies, they should still have a reading on them, right? A heat signature of some sort, but no, Danny just…disappeared. His signature was just gone! There has to be something wrong! That isn't supposed to happen! Maybe he's not dead! Maybe he's stranded in the ghost zone somewhere!"

"Jazz!" Maddie barked, "Stop it! Stop trying to come up with excuses. Danny is gone! I'm sorry…but, it's the truth. There's nothing we can do to change that. The dead will remain dead, we can't reverse that."

"Why, mom!? Why are you just giving up on trying to find him!? Why can't we just go to the S.E.H.S headquarters and see what we find! What could it hurt!?"

"It could and _would _hurt all of us! I don't want you to be hurt anymore! I don't think you realize what you're talking about! If we went there, first off, we would be facing hundreds of criminal doctors most likely, and second, all you would find there would be Danny's corpse! Do you honestly think you could handle that!?"

"It's better than just sitting around here doing nothing! You're wrong, mom, I _do _know that the chances are a million to one! But, there _is _still a chance!" Tears began to flow from the teen's eyes, "Why can't you treat Danny like your son for once in your life!"

Maddie cringed at that statement, her face hardening, "I did think of Danny as my son! He was as good as family! Don't ever say that I didn't treat him like my own!"

"Any good mother would never give up on their child! They would search endlessly for them! All across the world even, but somehow, you think that Danny doesn't deserve to be that child? If you loved him, then you would be jumping at even the slightest chance of his survival! Sam would!" Her voice cracked between her words, "Sam loved Danny more than any of us could imagine! I've watched her, mom. She sits by her window every night, crying for hours, and waiting for Danny to come back! What have you done?"

There was a long pause before Maddie spoke again, only this time, she was gritting her teeth and hissing with pain and anger, "you think that just because I don't cry over Danny all the time, or pray at an alter every night, that I don't care about him? I am just trying to get over this pain." She put her hand over her heart, "and to do that, I have to accept that fact that he won't come back."

"Mom, I don't understand you." Jazz snarled, "Maybe _I _don't want to get over this! I don't want to give up! I don't want to forget about Danny as though he were meaningless! I have read many books, you know that mom, and you know what I've learned? This pain that you feel is the memories of Danny reminding you of his existence. You don't want to forget, that's why it's painful. Deep down somewhere, I know that there is a possibility that Danny is alive, and you know that too. Don't ignore it, mom." Jazz stood up from where she sat, and left the room.

Maddie stared at where Jazz exited the room for a minute, then looked down at the book in her hands, "Do I want to forget?" she quietly whispered to herself, "no, of course not. But, what other choice is there? To suffer forever? Everyone dies eventually, that doesn't mean the world has to end every time it happens." She blinked and a droplet of water ran down from the corner of her eye, "I'm sorry, Danny. I thought that you could make your own choices. When you said that you were going to go after Sam, somehow…I knew that you weren't going to return. You said to us that you might never come back, but I _knew_. And yet…I let you go. What does that say about me? Am I a terrible mother because of that? Would I have been able to stop you anyway?" She shook her head, "you made your decision. And I respected that, it's not that I didn't care…it's that I trusted you to choose your own path. I just hope that you made the right one."

-Manson Mansion-

Sam leaned slightly out her window, which was a story off the ground, and looked down at the small house next to theirs. The Fenton's home; it was extremely quiet, and Sam didn't know why. She noticed, however, that the Fenton RV was gone, but Jazz's convertible was still there. Who was gone? And why? She wasn't sure, but she never pondered the thought for long. It didn't matter that much. She hadn't spoken to any of them for so long, she had lost count of exactly how long.

_The Fentons have a ghost portal, right? It leads to the ghost zone, so…if Danny is in there, and their ghost portal was closed, he couldn't get out. But that doesn't mean that I can't go IN. _ Sam remembered what she was thinking previously. Would Danny be in there? Was there a possibility? Only one way to find out, right? But then again, the ghost zone was so large it would take over a century to go through the entire place! And what if he, like all those other spirits, is trapped in that dungeon?

She looked down at the orb around her neck, _no. If that were so, his ecto energy would show signs of existence. _Sam remembered seeing the orb fade from green to black in a matter of seconds six months ago. When Danny had died, she knew right away. Part of him was in this tiny orb, and was still connected to him somehow.

_You knew that I kept a promise to Allison and those children, and yet, you want me to stay away from Rafael at all costs. Danny, you know for a fact that I would save them no matter what, because I made a promise! So, what do you expect me to do? Break my promise to them and let them rot in that horrible place for eternity? Or…do what you don't want me to do, and possibly lose my life. _

_I'm sorry, Danny. But I won't just sit around and do nothing. I have to help them. _She didn't know when or how, but she knew.

**A/N: Oh my god! I am so sorry that I took so long to update! I have been so friggin' busy, it's not even funny. Please review, and tell me what I need to work on! If you hated this chapter, tell me that! (But, I would appreciate if you told me why) so, I'm counting on all of you to do that! Thanks so much! I appreciate all of your support!**

**Oh, another thing. Please tell me if the scene between Maddie and Jazz was realistic. I know that I didn't say where Jack was, but I will eventually. **

**-Desi-**


	4. The Beast Inside

Error's Rival

Error's Rival

Chapter 4: The Beast Inside

-_12 Years Ago_-

A small boy was sitting in the corner of his cell, and there were quite a few children still remaining, but they all knew that it wouldn't be long before they were all gone. They had gone from a full house of children to just twenty or so. None of the experiments had made it, and even when they did, all of them were killed because of some sort of problem. The small boy had lost count of the number of days he had been in this place, was it days? Weeks? Months? He didn't remember. All he knew was that it was longer than he wanted.

The cell door opened, and all of the children looked up with fearful eyes. Every time that door opened, something bad was sure to happen. A guard stood there, wearing an all black uniform and a tranquilizer gun in hand, just in case something (or someone) got out of control. The guard literally threw a child into the cell, and the child remained completely still on the floor. The guard locked the door once again, and then walked away. Only then did everyone in the cell get up and move toward the hurt child.

The child was a girl, she was about four, and had long brown hair, which was tangled up into large disgusting dread locks. Everyone in this place had terrible hair problems, most of them - because of the lack of showers - had hair that clumped up into dreadlocks. The girl curled up, whimpering silently and trembling; all of the kids knelt beside her and a few of them grabbed onto the edge of their clothes, ripping off a long strip of it and then used those as bandages for the hurt girl.

"Awr you hurt?" A young boy asked quietly, "where does it hurt?" he lightly touched the girl's shoulder, trying to comfort her as much as he could.

"Everywhere…it hurts…" The girl moaned, still lying on the floor, trying to not move because it hurt to do so. "Where did Naomi go?" she looked up at all of the people around her, "Naomi? Where are you?" she whined, "Naomi?"

The small boy in the corner felt his hand curl up into a tight fist, and he bit his bottom lip, turning to face the wall completely. Unlike the other children, he hadn't moved from his spot. He was in too much pain then to do anything. _Naomi…_He thought to himself.

The previous day, the small boy in the corner was brought into the lab, and at the moment he was sitting against the wall waiting his turn. Creator was busy with another Subject at the moment, and next to the small boy, there was a blond girl, she was about the same age and had pale blue eyes that were faded of colour over the past few months that she had been captive in this place. She had tears filling her eyes.

The small boy watched the girl as she trembled in fear, and then he noticed that she had a thin gold coloured necklace strung around her neck, and imprinted on the necklace was a name, it said: Naomi. He knew that it was her name, it had to be. And the small boy watched helplessly as she was taken for experimenting. But, the child later found out that she was not being taken there for experiments, she was being taken _care of_.

His eyes widened with horror when he saw one of the doctors carrying the limp girl out of the room, her eyes were white like sheets, lifeless and cold. A drop of blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. The small child felt his throat tighten, and his body stiffened.

To explain death to a child is extremely hard. They can't comprehend what is said to them, it just doesn't seem real. But all of the children in the S.E.H.S Organization knew death a little too well. They saw it happen right before their eyes, and they knew deep down that the dead would never come back. That was just how life worked. It was cruel and unfair, but they each learned to accept that life was not fair. If it was, then they wouldn't be here in the first place. What had they ever done to deserve this kind of pain?

The dead don't come back…but, what happens when you die? The small boy asked himself that question almost every day. He had a feeling that death was just around the corner, so what could he do about it? He could only hope that there was something better on the other side.

The girl lay on the ground, and everyone was gathered around her. "Naomi? Naomi!"

The boy didn't know if he should speak up. _She's dead. Naomi was killed yesterday. _But what good would that do? It would only make this already sad child even worse. But, didn't she deserve to know as well? The boy looked down into his clasped hand, and in it was the gold necklace with 'Naomi' written on it.

_The small boy was picked out from the cage full of kids and was brought into the laboratory. Every child hated and feared the lab more than anything else. The guard that brought him in placed the child against the wall and muttered, "Stay here," Before he walked away. The child pulled his knees up to his chest, looking at all the machines around him. Then, he saw that there was a young blond girl sitting beside him. _

_The girl was shaking with horror, and tears streamed down her face. The young boy watched her, feeling the need to comfort her, but he didn't know how. The boy had a gleam catch his eye, and his eyes followed it down to her neck. A gold chain was strung around her throat, it was dirty and well scratched up, but it was still pretty and gleaming. On the gold chain, there was a flat part at the bottom of it, where a name had been engraved in to. On it said: Naomi._

_"You're name is Naomi?" The small boy asked._

_She brought her head up, "Y-yes. How did you know?"_

_The boy pointed to the necklace, "it's a pretty name." _

_The girl put her hand over the necklace, "Daddy gave it to me for Christmas last year. He said that I couldn't lose it because it was real gold. It belonged to mommy first, I was named after her." Her eyes lowered, "she died when I was born." _

_"I'm sorry." The boy sincerely said, "Momma never gave me anything that belonged to Daddy. She didn't like when I brought him up. And she never said what his name was or even what happened to him." _

_"What's your name?" Naomi inquired._

_"Danny." The boy weakly managed a smile, "Not as pretty as your name, huh?" _

_The girl smiled back at him, but then her eyes dropped down to stare at the floor, "we're never getting out of here, are we?" She whispered so quietly, Danny strained to hear her. _

_"That's not true. We'll find a way to get out. Someone will find us…Momma always told me that she would protect me no matter what. And, I know that she'll come, she has to, because…she promised." Danny placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, "Your daddy is worried about you, and he misses you. So, don't give up, think of how sad that would make him." _

_Naomi shook her head, "Creator said that my time was just about up." She brought her hands up to her face, covering them like a shield from everything around her, "I'm scared…what about Tanya? I didn't get to say goodbye."_

_"You won't have to. You'll get to see her again." Danny assured her._

_A guard looked in the direction of Danny and Naomi, they both stiffened with fear, and they could vaguely hear the orders, "get Subject 98."_

_Naomi looked at Danny, "that's me." Her eyes filled up immensely with water, and she struggled to speak through sobs, "please, tell Tanya goodbye for me!"_

_"No! You're going to be okay!" Danny nearly pleaded to her. He didn't want anyone else to die! It was horrible enough just knowing that kids were being murdered, but Danny hated when he learned the name of one of the children, or spent some amount of time with them. To see them die just made Danny feel like they were all lab rats. As much as he didn't want it to happen, it did. _

_Naomi turned quickly to Danny once more, "tell Tanya that Naomi said goodbye!" she cried, and without any warning, she wrapped her arms around the small boy for a moment, "I am glad to have met you, Danny." She was ripped away from him by the guard, and she didn't bother to struggle. _

_Danny looked down, and then realized that there was something in his hand. A necklace? He gasped, it was Naomi's necklace. For a moment, he wondered if it fell off when she hugged him, but he knew that it wasn't an accident. He wrapped his hand around the gold chain, "I'm sorry, Naomi. I'm sorry I couldn't help you, but I will tell Tanya what you told me." He didn't know who Tanya was, but that didn't matter, he would find her somehow._

The girl on the ground sobbed, "Does anyone know where Naomi is!? Please!" She cried.

Everyone was silent, they didn't know who this _Naomi _person was, but none of them wanted to tell her that. Then finally, someone spoke up from the crowd of children, "Is your name Tanya?"

The sobbing girl looked up at the person who said that, "Yes, that's me." She was staring into a pair of gorgeous blue eyes, "how did you know?" Tanya asked.

The boy that had asked her stood up from the corner of the cell, and slowly made his way over to her. Children all cleared a path for him to walk up to her, each of them was wondering what he was going to do or say. The young child went down to his knees beside Tanya, "Naomi wanted to say goodbye." He held out his closed hand, and placed the gold chain in front of Tanya, "I'm sorry." He whispered, "She's…gone." Danny couldn't bring himself to say _dead_, so instead, he said that she was gone. However, that didn't change the situation much.

Tanya broke down into tears, or rather, more tears than she already had. She grabbed onto the necklace and pulled it up to her heart, "Naomi!" She screamed.

Danny couldn't bear to watch her cry; he got back up without another word and went back into his corner. Was Naomi her sister, or a friend, a cousin? He didn't know, but he also wasn't about to ask. He didn't want to cause any more pain. He hated to be the one to bring the bad news, but he supposed it was better to hear those words from him rather than some random person who had never even met Naomi. Danny's muscles were aching horribly from yesterday. The tests that the doctors had Danny do were horrible and tiring, as they always were. Danny's strength and agility was tested, which was never fun, because when he was being tested, he didn't get a five minute break, or even a one minute break. There was no time to drink water or anything like that. And no one dared complain about being thirsty or hungry.

Every time that Danny looked into the eyes of his Creator, there was something deep inside him that shriveled in fear. But, also, there was something else he felt that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Those horrible, careless gray eyes reminded him of someone…who? He didn't know. It was too vague of an image to make out clearly, but Danny knew that there was something else about his Creator that he didn't know.

The next day, extremely early in the morning, the cell was opened. All of the children were fast asleep, sprawled out across the floor. Often times, they would find another person and lay their head on the person's legs or even stomach so that they could have a somewhat pillow, and not hurt their neck as much. Danny had his back up against the wall, and had fallen asleep sitting up with his head resting on his own shoulder. Everyone had their head come up when they heard the screech of the door.

A horribly bloody child was placed in the cell; they had their arms and legs bound with chains, and a mask over their mouth, almost like a dog muzzle. The children knew right away why this child was in this position. Another failed experiment, and a bad one at that. The child was a boy with thin brown hair, his eyes were bright red, and his skin had scale like spikes sprouting across his body, giving him a reptile look. The boy squirmed around like a worm, trying to get free of the chains.

Danny didn't know why they had put this rabid child in the same cage as all of them, but he never did understand anything around here. Everyone scurried as far away from this child as they could, fearing that he would manage to bite off a chunk of them if they got too close. Danny, unlike everyone else, could see that this child was fighting; Fighting against the animal inside of him, the creature that was taking over him. Danny looked at all the kids, wanting all of them to stop staring at him so fearfully. That only made the _beast _angrier, and crazier.

"Get…out…of…me!" The young boy screamed in fury, jerking around in an almost seizing way, "Get out! Now!" He cried, and then slowly stopped jerking around.

Danny wanted to yell out to the boy to not give up, because he could see that this boy was losing this battle. He could only imagine the agony this child was going through to try and take back what was rightfully his. "Keep fighting." He whispered, and was hardly heard by anyone.

"I…can't. I've had enough."

He was surprised that this boy heard him speak, and replied, "Don't give up yet. You can still win, just don't give up."

The boy had tears flowing down his face, "I wanna go home. I can't take it anymore."

At those words, Danny stood up and went forward, sitting cross-legged next to the struggling boy, "do you think that you'll go home if you _die_? If you wanna get home, this isn't the right way."

The boy had a strained chuckle vibrate in his throat, "Please…I'm done. If I don't die now, I'll just die tomorrow."

"You don't know that!"

"Yes, I do." Even with chains wrapped around him, the boy managed to grab the edge of his shirt and pull it up just enough to see the blood.

Danny hadn't noticed before, but he could see now that there was blood all across his back, staining his outfit. He grabbed onto the shirt where the boy had, and pulled it up just enough to see the large, fresh "X" that was carved into his skin. "No…" He lowered his head.

"I've been labeled. I probably won't live much longer anyway though." Scales kept appearing more and more on his skin, the beast was continuing to take over the helpless human body. His breaths became tighter and tighter, "please, don't let me become that." He looked down at his body, "I don't want to hurt anyone."

Danny knew what he was asking, "I can't do that."

"Please…if you don't then I will become this _thing_. Don't let me hurt anyone ever again. I just want to die in peace." He choked on his words; his eyes were starting to fade into a pitch black colour. Even at such a young age, this child could understand right from wrong, and thought about others rather than himself. The strength and courage in this young boy ranked higher than most adults ever could. _That _is what this place did to these children…

Staying strong, Danny nodded, "Alright. I won't let you become that." He sighed, "I also won't let Creator do anything to you…" he put his hands on the creature's shoulders.

"Just because it's too late for me, doesn't mean it's too late for you." The boy groaned, his face twisting with pain. "Do it! Now!" he screamed, the pain becoming more intense by the second.

It was quick. One quick twist and the entire room became dead silent except for the _clunk _that the body made as it hit the ground. Danny was trembling horribly. It had been so easy; it shouldn't have been that easy! He knew that the neck was extremely sensitive in many ways, one snap and it was lights out forever. Danny brought his hands up closer to his face, _I…just…I just killed him. _Realization fell on top of him, _how!? How could I have done that! _Why did life have to be so damn fragile!? Death was so easy…and that scared Danny.

He turned around, and all eyes were on him, shocked, scared, disgusted, there were so many different expressions and Danny couldn't blame them. They had just watched as he so easily took away the life of that boy. _Why did I say yes? I could've said no! Why didn't I leave the dirty work to Creator!? He would gladly kill anyone and everyone! _"I'm sorry…" he whispered to the corpse on the ground, "rest in peace…"

-Present Day-

Tucker was in the school library, sitting at an empty table, although it was hours after school had ended. Scattered all across the tables and floor were Amity Park newspapers. His eyes were focused on nothing but what he was reading.

"A little light reading, Mr. Foley?"

Tucker jumped in surprise, throwing the newspaper out of his hands on accident, and jerked his head upward. "Mr. Lancer! Uh…" he shrunk in place, "sorry, you startled me." He was a little worried that he might get in trouble. _Oh crap! What if I get detention for making a mess? What if I had to be out of the school by a certain time? Did I do something wrong? Oh god, I hope not! I can't get in trouble after being here for less than a week! _"Is…something wrong?"

Lancer looked down at the newspapers, "something particular you are looking for? An article? Is it for school?" He wasn't pressuring an answer, he just seemed curious.

"I…uh, have to do a report for English class. So, I'm looking through these-"

"Mr. Foley. I'm your English teacher, you know that right?" He chuckled, "Well, do you need any help finding something in particular? Or are you just browsing?" Lancer looked down at the paper that Tucker had thrown out of his hands, it said on it: Two Teens Go Missing. "Ah, I see." He turned to look at Tucker once again, "interested in Miss Manson's history here?"

Tucker nodded slowly, he was slightly embarrassed, but Lancer didn't seem like he was going to go run around and tell everyone. "I'm just wondering if…I'm actually not sure. She doesn't seem like a bad person, but she never talks and doesn't even acknowledge other people. Was she always like that? Or," he looked at the paper, "did something happen…"

Right below the headline, there were two pictures, one was of Sam, it was her school picture, which was of her with a complete bored expression, and the other was a blurry picture that was taken of someone from a distance it seemed like. It had "Daniel Fenton" underneath his picture. _Who is this guy? What happened to him?_

**A/N: The whole point of that flashback was to basically remind you all of it, and also, to show you the first time Danny ever killed someone. I know, he was young and shouldn't have to do that, but I hope you understand why he did it. If not, I like to think of it as putting a dog to sleep because it's suffering or something similar. Please don't hate me. But, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**And, I am hoping that you can make the connection with Danny's way of killing. He broke that kid's neck, and in many cases when Danny had (not intentionally) killed someone, he usually broke their neck. Just thought I'd mention that because I doubt any of you noticed.**

**Please review! And thank you!**

**-Desi-**


	5. Fading Away

Error's Rival

Error's Rival

Chapter 5: Fading Away

"Well, have you found anything that has answered your question yet?" Lancer asked Tucker, "I don't know if you will find much in these papers. It will only give you the story that they know of, which is almost nothing."

Tucker looked down at the papers he had been reading, "well, on the day after it happened, all it really says is that Sam and this guy named Danny went to prom together, and disappeared. There are possibilities here that say some think they ran away together, one of them says that Danny kidnapped her, and another says that they were killed, and a bunch of crap like that." He looked up at Lancer, "This _Danny_ guy, what happened to him?"

"I guess that you didn't read all of the newspapers. It says about a week later that Sam was found and being hospitalized, and…Mr. Fenton was never found. They don't know what happened to him. Miss Manson hasn't spoken about him; actually, she really hasn't spoken at all. But it is still a mystery."

"What about his family? What happened to them?"

"They still live in town. Nobody in town really got to know them well, they really haven't lived here that long. So, there isn't really any news about them."

Tucker nodded, "You knew Sam before all of this happened though, right?" Lancer nodded. "So, what was she like before this?"

Lancer took a moment to think, "She was still dark, she always has been for as long as I've known her. She was always quiet, and pretty lonely. But, she was an excellent student, always getting perfect grades and working hard. She would talk to her teachers, but not about her personal life, or even her _social_ life. And after Danny Fenton moved in town, Sam was a whole new person." He smiled slightly, "I could see that her eyes were full of life and happiness. Of course she didn't start dancing and singing with joy, but there was something different about her. Then, after _that _happened, she never spoke again. Her health drastically decreased, and her grades plummeted down to F's very quickly."

"So, this guy meant a lot to her?" He wasn't really asking, he was more stating the fact. "Can you tell me about him a little?"

-S.E.H.S Organization-

From the outside, this building looked much like an abandoned warehouse. It was quite large, gray in colour, and had moss as well as various other plants growing along it. Trees hid it from view easily, because it was quite literally in the middle of nowhere. But, just because the outside looked awful, the inside was a whole other story.

The once magnificently built laboratory was now just a pile of broken machines, chemicals, and rubble. This building had seen more action than it should have. There had been several times that this place had to be remodeled and built again from scratch, because of destruction caused by various people; Although the times that it was ruined the most had been because of one specific person.

There were hallways connected to the large lab, and down hallway one, there were endless numbers of cells and cages. Rusted, and stained with old blood, this was definitely the _second _most disgusting place in the building. Along hallway number two, there were doors; each of them had a number, or a few numbers. No one ever opened these doors however. One reason was because they were locked up pretty well, and the second reason was because…this was basically the morgue of the building. Yes, that's right. All of the bodies were stashed in these rooms. Each of them wrapped up in plastic, and would be preserved with the airtight rooms. The room numbers were all out of order however.

Each number represented the "name" of the Subject that had died. Each person had been known as Subject and each of them had a specific number. Some lived longer than others, which is why these room numbers were out of order. The most recent one was at the very end, with some fairly fresh paint on the door, which read: Subject 112.

Now, down hallway number three, it led into the second largest room in the entire place, along the walls were shelves which were filled with a load of random stuff. Beds were lying all across the place, each had a name on it to show where each person went. This place was where all the doctors slept. At the moment, almost all of the beds were filled because it was nearly three in the morning. There was a door across the room however, which led to a short hallway that connected to Rafael's personal office and room. When he wasn't working, he would spend all of his time in there.

In the room, there was almost no light. No windows whatsoever, and the only source for light was the lamp on top of the desk located in the room. A man in his early fifties leaned over the wooden desk, papers were scattered in front of him, and he scanned his eyes across them, his brows strained together with concentration. He had dark gray eyes that would send shivers down anyone's spine. A mixture of black and gray hair was combed back on his scalp, but it wasn't well cared for, it was getting a little too long. And lastly, he had a lab coat on all the time; no one had ever seen him _not _wearing it.

"This can't be right…there has to be something we missed! Damn it!" He pounded the desk with his fist, rattling the old structure of wood, "We were so close! So close! But that pathetic excuse for a son had to ruin everything!" He was regretting the fact that he had killed off his creation, "I really thought that he would only make things worse. There was nothing else we could have done. He destroyed my hard work and for that, he had to pay! But…" He sighed, "It's no use. We'll have to start from scratch all over again. That will take a while, and it'll be hard to get new specimens." The man chuckled, "That Samantha girl was definitely exciting to have around, maybe I should invite her to come."

A woman's voice interrupted his thoughts, "You wouldn't _dare _lay a hand on that girl!"

The man stood up straight, "Well, Allison," he turned around, "do you really want to jump to that conclusion? There are many things that I _dare _to do. Besides, I suppose it is somewhat her fault for the loss of my son."

"Don't even think of calling him your son, you bastard! After all that you did to him!"

"That's cruel to say, especially for _you_." The man walked over to the spirit of the woman who had previously worked for him. "Ah, Allison, you were such a lovely woman before you decided to turn on your friends."

The spirit known as Allison was a young and beautiful woman, even though she was completely white and somewhat see-through, she was still beautiful. Her hair came down just past her shoulders, and she wore a dress of some sort. At the moment, however, she had her hands bound out to either side of her, she was inside of a large cage that had glowing green bars, and it prevented ghosts from getting in or out. The chains around her wrists were attached to the wall as well as the roof of the cage, which held her upright. She was held off of the ground, so her feet dangled below her, which was extremely uncomfortable.

"Those _people _were not my friends! None of you care about anyone but yourselves! Just look at everything you've done! Has it ever benefited anyone besides you? Ever think that _that's _why your wife left you!" Allison barked. Normally, she was a calm and gentle woman, but when she was pissed, it could get ugly sometimes.

"I suggest you keep your trap shut, Allison! You are in no position to argue with me!"

"It's true though! The reason you are getting angry is because you _know _that I'm telling the truth. I see you staring at her picture everyday, kind of pathetic." She smirked, "she's been gone for almost fifteen years; I doubt she's coming back to you."

"Shut up, Allison." The man growled.

"Or what? You'll destroy me? Hurt me? There is nothing more you can take away from me!"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that, dear Allison." He smirked, "there is plenty that I can take away from you."

-Amity Park-

"Hey, hey! Uh, Sam!"

The Goth teen turned around slowly, watching as the excited new kid in her class ran up to her. She found it quite weird that he was running to her and yelling her name. _What the hell is he doing? _She was soon face to face with him; he was breathing a little heavy.

"Um…hi. How's it going?" He smiled nervously.

Sam didn't answer; she just raised an eyebrow in question and also annoyance. _What does he want? _

"You remember me, right? I'm in your English class, my name is Tucker Foley."

_Does knowing your name make anything different? _

"Just wanted to say hi; And also," he held up a purple backpack, "you left this…"

Sam didn't grab the bag; instead, she scanned over him, taking in every detail of him. She didn't know exactly what to do, actually. She felt, different, and it scared her. She didn't know whether to reach forward and grab the bag, or to ignore him and walk away. _What the hell is wrong with me? Why can't I make one freaking decision! _She was surprised that this guy just stood there patiently, waiting for her to do something. Sam expected him to throw a small fit about her not doing anything, but no, this guy was…different.

"Hey, listen. I wanted to thank you again, for…you know, sticking up for me. And, whatever I said to upset you, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to say anything bad." He gave her a warm smile, then placed the backpack down on the ground, "Well, I'll see ya' later then." He walked away.

For a few moments, Sam watched him walk away, then she bent down and grabbed onto her backpack. _I didn't even realize it was gone. _She thought of what that Tucker guy said just a moment ago, _He's apologizing? For what? _She then remembered that she had run away from him after that fight happened with Dash. _I wasn't mad at him. I just…_she put her hand up to the orb around her neck, _I just needed to be alone…I'm sorry; I didn't mean to make you feel guilty. _She wished that she could have said sorry to the new kid, she wasn't sure what for though. _He was just trying to help. And I only made things worse. _

_Do I really want to say something to him? _This was the first time that she had felt the urge to speak up, it was strange; for six months, Sam had easily gone without breathing a word, but now? She opened her mouth, trying to remember what it had been like to feel words rush past her lips. But, for some reason, it felt as though her vocal chords were paralyzed, they refused to move at all. _Is it possible to become permanently mute after not speaking for a while? _She shook her head; _maybe it's just not my time to speak yet. I have nothing to say. _

_But, have I _ever _had something to say? With Danny, and with this new guy, they have both confronted me without cruelty or judgment. And…both times, I act like a frightened puppy. Why can't I for once just do something instead of stand there like an idiot!? _She sighed, and then started to head to class.

-In class-

Sam's hands clenched tightly together. She felt like a little kid trying to make their mind up about what they wanted…and in a way, that's what she was doing. Sam was arguing within herself whether she should speak to Tucker or not. _What harm would it cause? _She knew that it was time to change…change something, _anything_. Because she could no longer live like this; it was killing her inside every passing second. She needed help, and at the moment, her choices were limited.

Lancer noticed that Sam was tense and fidgety, but didn't want to ask her if anything was wrong, he didn't want to put her in the spotlight and have everyone look at her. So, he let her be.

Shortly after the bell rang, the classroom was deserted except for Sam, Tucker and Mr. Lancer. Tucker was still packing his things, but Sam was just sitting there. _Come on! Just say something simple, like: Hi. _Sam opened her mouth, inhaled…but nothing happened. No words came out. _God damn it! Speak! _She screamed to herself.

Tucker stood up, swinging his backpack over his shoulder. Then, he turned his head slightly, looking over at Sam. He gave her a small smile before walking out of the classroom.

-The Ghost Zone-

A large doorway faced him, just about as large as a house. Its monstrous height made him feel like a mouse, and he felt as helpless as a mouse that was trapped in a corner. All around him was pure darkness, there was no light whatsoever, but for some reason he was able to see the doorway; which made no sense. This whole place was just plain freaky. The doorway had double doors that were a red and black colour; designs and pictures were etched into the doors thousands if not millions of years ago, but had not aged a day since then. They had not worn down the slightest bit.

A teenage boy stood before the doors, he had white hair, green eyes, and a black jumpsuit which also came with white gloves, boots, belt and collar. His wide eyes stared at the doorway, curious of what it was and at the same time terrified. He didn't know where he was or how he got there. Something kept him standing there, however his limbs ached to the point of collapsing and his eyes wanted so badly to close. Somehow, the boy knew that he couldn't let his body go to sleep; he couldn't allow his eyes to close just yet. But why?

Suddenly, the doors began to open. The boy took a frightened step backward, and it took away so much strength just to do that. It was a miracle that he was even standing to begin with! "W-Who's there?" A strong force seemed to pull him forward, but the boy resisted as much as he could, sweating and grunting with anger. "Stop it! Let go! I don't want to go!"

A loud, echoing voice replied to him, "The longer you wait, the harder it will be to make a choice."

"A choice? A choice about what!? Who are you!?"

"Make your decision, young one."

"About _what_!" He screamed, "What the hell do you want me to do!" The pull became stronger, but the teen continued to pull away, "Stop! Let go of me!"

"Stop resisting, young one. Accept your fate."

The teen stopped pulling for a moment. His body grew weaker and weaker each day that he didn't go through the doorway. He didn't know why he refused to go through, but something held him back. Tears came to his eyes, "Maybe…maybe it _is _time." Every word he said was a mystery to him, he didn't know who or what he was mourning for. Where were these tears coming from? It's time to do what? "I…don't know what to do."

"Either way, young one, you will come through this gate."

The teen looked into the doors. All he saw was a blinding light, and where he stood now was pitch black. "I…don't want to."

"Why?"

"I don't know! I don't know anything! I can't even remember my own name! Everything is…fading away."

"The reasons for that are because of this. You are fighting against your own destiny, and it's only hurting you. Your soul is detached from your body, but _something _is continuing to hold you back. Young one, what is holding you back?"

An image flashed before his eyes, the teen gasped and nearly collapsed from the image. He recognized it, but couldn't place his finger on it, it was a girl; and the image of her had an amazing effect on him, but for what? He didn't know.

"Ah," the voice said, "I see."

"What?" The teen asked, "What is it? Who was that?"

"Your link to the world. Your soul is not completely gone from the earth yet."

"What do you mean?"

Another image popped up in his head, it was of a small green circle that seemed to be on a string or chain of some sort. The circle was brightly coloured and swirling with different shades of green like clouds. "What is that?" The teen asked.

"Even I do not know that answer, young one. Only you do."

"Well, obviously I don't because I don't have a damn clue what that is!" He barked. "You're saying that that _thing _is the reason I'm not going through those doors?"

"Yes and no."

"Damn it! Can you please speak in real _words_! Give me a real answer!"

"You have to find them for yourself, young one. And then, you will find the right path." The doors began to close, and the pull against the teen ceased.

The teen nearly collapsed from exhaustion. He heaved in and out for several minutes, trying to gain control of himself again. "How…do I figure out the so-called _answers _if I don't have a clue what they are? Do I just guess randomly till I figure it out!? What the hell am I supposed to do?" He screamed with rage. _Well, if that's the case. I better get started. _He lowered himself down so that he was now squatting in place, and he closed his eyes, working on his breathing, slowing his rapid heart rate to normal. _Now just concentrate…first, figure out who that girl was…_

-Casper High-

Sam was back in her place, sitting down beside the base of the tree outside of Casper High. It was an hour after school had ended, but she was waiting for someone specific to come out. She wasn't sure why he was staying after school for so long, but that also didn't matter much to her. Maybe he was just getting some help from teachers or doing a report, whatever the reason, she waited patiently.

A moment later, the hair on Sam's arms sprung up straight, and goosebumps became visible on her skin. The temperature all around her decreased rapidly, and the wind picked up a little bit, making the trees sway back and forth. Sam narrowed her eyes; she had experienced this enough times to know exactly what it was. A ghost.

_Maybe it's that same ghost that was watching over me…_Then Sam shook her head, _no, it wouldn't be her. She didn't have an appearance like this before, and she did well to not attract attention to herself. _Sam reached into her backpack, feeling around and then gritted her teeth in frustration, _Damn it! I left my gun! _She stood up quickly, _what now? _Sam circled in place, checking over her shoulder constantly to make sure nothing was sneaking up on her.

Something caught her attention from the school. Sam turned and saw Tucker walking out of the school, she stiffened, _oh god no! Get back! _She bit her lip; she didn't want him to get in the middle of anything again! She then saw a large figure hiding around the corner of the school. It was nearly the size of a bear; that much she could tell. Once Tucker had gotten down the steps, the creature charged at him.

Sam felt her gut twist. The creature had long black fur, and was in the shape of a wolf; only he had green clothes on. From this far away, that's all she could see, but that was enough to frighten her. _No! _Sam opened her mouth, and she felt her throat burn as she screamed with a glass shattering voice, "NO! STOP!"

**A/N: I quickly wanted to remind you all that Tucker and Sam are in fact between the ages of 17 and 18 if you forgot. Tell me if you think there is anything I need to change about their character.**

**Sorry I took so long to update, my pet bird just died the other day (tear tear) so I didn't get to updating. I hope you'll all forgive me! **

**Oh! And also, we're going to be reading more about Danny in **_**The Wandering**_**. That is the name of the place he is in, however I put it as **_**The Ghost Zone**_** because it is an attachment of the Ghost Zone. I will explain more about that later.**

**Anyway! Please review! Thanks!**

**-Desi-**


	6. Words Unknown

Error's Rival

Chapter 6: Words Unknown

_Sam felt her gut twist. The creature had long black fur, and was in the shape of a wolf; only he had green clothes on. From this far away, that's all she could see, but that was enough to frighten her. _No! _Sam opened her mouth, and she felt her throat burn as she screamed with a glass shattering voice, "NO! STOP!"_

The words tore past her lips like a knife, and it burned like hot coal to let it out. But somehow, Sam was able to do it. It was all she could say, the only thing she could think to do. Sam had no weapon, and no way of attacking that creature to keep him away from Tucker.

Tucker had heard a scream, and looked over to hear Sam shriek those two words. For a moment, he thought it had to be someone else, but when he realized it was her, his body stiffened with fear. It was obvious that something was wrong. All time froze, and out of the corner of his eye he could see a large black blur getting closer and closer faster than eyes could follow. He didn't have time to react, only a small portion of his mind managed to comprehend what was happening. And, the thought that went through his head was plain and simple; _Shit…_

Sam closed her eyes._ Stop this! Please! _She begged the spirit that had listened to her thoughts, _Please! Do something! _

A white blur emerged from behind Sam, materializing out of thin air. Even in its transparent mist, Sam could tell that this was that same ghost that had spoken to her. The one that somehow knew Danny; and Sam's heart swelled with gratitude. She still didn't know why, but she didn't want Tucker to be harmed. The spirit bolted forward toward the large beast and the teen boy. Sam held her breath, _Save him, please! _She argued with herself behind every worried thought that came across her. _Am I trying to save this boy because I failed to save Danny? Are my motivations only because of my guilt? _

Tucker then saw a large white form charging toward his general direction. He knew that it wasn't coming after him however, or at least, he assumed it wasn't because it wasn't aiming at him. A second later, a collision occurred to the left of him, where the creature had been charging. He spun to face the monster, and saw a tangle of bodies, one was the beast and the other was…a glowing see-through blob. Dust gathered around them as the two forms wrestled against each other. He could hear snarls and biting echoing in his ears. _What is that!? _He nearly screamed, but was nearly frozen in place.

He stood mesmerized for several minutes as the battle raged on between the two creatures. Then, his attention turned when Sam appeared by his side, and she grabbed onto the edge of his shirt, yanking on it to get his attention. He could see her mouth slightly moving, no sound came out, but Tucker knew what she was trying to say. He nodded and they both took off, leaving the fight.

_Dude, pull it together; this is obviously a dream! _Tucker said to himself, wanting desperately to wake up. He kept glancing over his shoulder to the fight, _what are those things!? _However, he didn't slow his pace at all for fear that he wouldn't be able to keep up with Sam. She was quite a good runner, much faster than he had thought. Soon, Tucker could no longer see the battle in the distant, and he turned his attention forward, trailing behind Sam to where, he didn't know. Finally, when Sam started to slow down to a jog, Tucker yelled to her, "Hey! Sam! What was that back there?"

She didn't answer; instead, she put her hand up to her throat. A rush of confusion and overwhelming excitement blurred her thoughts. After so long, she realized, she had spoke. The corner of her mouth twitched the slightest bit into a smile. For some reason, to her it felt like she had gained a victory.

"Hey! Sa-am!" Tucker waved his hands around, "Anyone there!?" He huffed in annoyance, she continued to space out for several minutes, and finally he gave up on trying to get her attention. Tucker continued to glance around him. Perhaps it was just the hollow feeling in his chest, but he had the feeling that they were _alone_, and at the same time the prickling sensation of being watched. It was an uneasy experience that sent shivers crawling along his spine.

Sam finally looked up at Tucker, giving him a long and soothing stare, one that he had never seen before. "Th-th…" She nearly choked on her attempted words; the sounds came out as scratchy and ill. She suddenly was cut off from her train of thought as another voice slashed through.

"Samantha! Run!" It was the voice of that spirit, the no-named one who had been fighting with the wolf creature.

Tucker didn't hear the voice, but when Sam took off at a sprint he decided that he ought to follow. _Great…now where is she going!? _He growled in anger from all of this running, he was never one for agility. His lungs burned as he started running once more. "Are we practicing for a marathon!? Where the hell are we going!?" Tucker cried up toward the Goth teen.

Another presence broke through his mind and spoke to him, "Quit complaining and keep running, young one!" It was a female, she seemed to be young, with a voice as delicate as glass and yet as strong as a boulder. The voice alone was intriguing, and sounded like a poet.

He nearly fell over in shock, _who're you? _

"A friend. Now run faster!"

_I'm running fast already! Right? _

"You have a dangerous enemy following behind you; I could not keep him restrained for long. I am already weakened, and cannot do much more. You and Samantha have to get somewhere safe, and fast!"

_Why are you helping us? _

"I made a promise to someone. No more questions." She broke the connection that linked his mind to her words, leaving him to his own thoughts once more.

"Dude!" Tucker called up to Sam, "some chick just told me that we have a freak following us!"

Sam nodded, knowing already the situation they were in. She knew the only place that they could go at a time like this…

Tucker didn't recognize any of these buildings or houses. They were somewhere in Amity Park that he had never set foot on, it was a maze of short streets with cars parked beside the sidewalks, and buildings towered over them on either side. In the distant he saw a house that looked almost like a hotel, well built with copper bricks and perfectly nourished to look brand new. Beside that magnificent mansion, there was a small, three story house with a metallic looking UFO on top of it with a large sign that said: Fenton Works. _Fenton…Fenton!? _It took him a moment to remember where he had heard the name. _Are we going in there? _

His question was answered a few short moments later when Sam ran up the steps toward that strange looking house, and without even knocking, she burst through the door. Tucker followed, feeling his gut twist uncomfortably at the thought that he was breaking-and-entering. He came into a room that was pretty empty, but had nice carpeting and a couch in the corner that lined up along the wall, which faced a television. If he turned to the right, there was an entry to the kitchen, which also had a table and chairs set up in there. Ahead of him, there were some stairs, and just to the left of that, there was a staircase _down _to what seemed to be a basement. "S-Sam?" He nervously called out, trying to remain quiet.

There was some shuffling and clanking coming from the basement, so Tucker slowly began to make his way over there; each step sent a frightened shiver from head to toe. _What if they come out? What do I do?…uh, 'hey, what's up? This isn't what it looks like…I'm only here because I have some freaky monster chasing after me!' No, they'll probably just escort me to the mental hospital. _He crept down the steps, and came into a large silver coated room about the size of a small gymnasium. His heart stopped for a second when he saw all the weapons in the place, it was crazy! _Oh, of course! So instead of sending me to an asylum, they'll just shoot me point blank! _

Sam had a large metal belt fastened around her waist, and she was grabbed every weapon that was within her reach, stuffing them into random pockets on her body. She then threw a similar belt over to Tucker. Up close, he realized that it was not just an ordinary belt. Being a techno-geek, he admired every bit of machinery no matter how old, and this…was a masterpiece. The amount of technology implanted into that thing was not only incredibly impressive, but also completely foreign to Tucker. His eyes widened and he began to scan over the belt. "Oh…my…god." His face lit up, "This is – gah!" He felt his body jerked back toward the steps.

Sam gave him a glare, telling him to follow with her eyes. She released his wrist and pulled out a gun from her pant pocket. Tucker then remembered the situation they were in, and without really thinking, he clipped the belt around his waist. It glowed a bright green for a moment, indicating that it was working, and then it reduced to its previous look.

"What's going on?" Tucker silently whispered to Sam, staring cautiously at the gun in her hand. "You're not going after that _thing_ are you!?" He gasped, and when she didn't respond he sharply barked, "Can you freaking answer me for once! What are you doing!?"

She turned to look at him again, shaking her head slowly and then made her way up the steps back into the living room. Inside of her head, she called out to the female spirit, _are you there?_

"Yes, Samantha. I am here." The female replied, but could not be heard by Tucker.

_Can you tell me where the ghost went? And possibly tell me how to take him down?_

"Are you planning on fighting him, Miss Samantha?"

_Well, what choice do I have? _

"Contact the Fentons. They are trained to fight against ghosts; they will know what to do."

Sam snarled at that suggestion, _I will __**not**__ask for help from them. _A fire began to burn in her heart as rage consumed her thoughts. _They didn't help Danny or me in __**that **__place when we needed it most! So why the hell should they help me now!? _She took a moment to gain control of herself again. _I can handle it._

"Do as you wish, Samantha. But be safe. I will come to help as soon as I have recovered."

_Are you alright? Are you hurt badly? _

"No, not terribly. That ghost did get a few good strikes though, but it shouldn't be long before I am better."

Sam nodded, and while still ignoring Tucker's constant rambling, she went to the front door. _He's a dog of some sort from what I saw, so he can probably smell us. The best thing to do is get away from here so that they don't target this place later. _She opened the door, bringing the gun up to eye level as she did so, ready to fire at a moments notice.

"Do you want to get arrested!?" Tucker cried, "don't hold up a gun out in the open! It's broad daylight too!"

Sam cringed, _that beast is going to hear him from a mile away! _Then she smiled slightly in realization, _well, that's one good thing about him being here. _Sam couldn't decide if this guy was being helpful or just freaking annoying. Either way, there was no getting rid of him right now. Sam made a break from the house, bolting across the street into a back alley away from cars that might drive by. Tucker followed closely behind.

She knew these alleyways all too well, and knew exactly where they led. The best place to go was the city park, no one would be there and the forest near it would be a good place to stay out of view. Sam glanced at Tucker to make sure he was following, and then started jogging through the paths behind houses and buildings while also making sure to brush her hand past several things on the way so that the ghost _dog_ or whatever it was could follow the scent easier.

"Hey, Sam! Where are we going now?" Tucker was constantly holding his breath, trying to avoid the smell of the garbage and trash that was stashed around this place. Everywhere in Amity Park was fairly well clean and taken care of, but back here was awful! Sam however was not affected by the surroundings in any way. She continued forward.

"Samantha!" The spirit's voice cried into her ear, "behind you!"

Sam eyes widened, and almost out of reflex, Sam did a complete 180 spin/jump, landing perfectly on her feet, with _two _guns raised up and loaded. Her knees were slightly bent forward, and she remained on the balls of her feet, keeping steady and well positioned. Tucker ran past her unknowingly, and skid to a stop as quick as he could. "Sam!?" He called back, turning to look at her, and then he gasped when he saw the large black creature advancing on them.

Eyes burning with determination, Sam opened her mouth, "G-go! K-keep running!" She stuttered, her tongue tripping over itself as she spoke. She turned her full attention back to the beast running toward her. It was on all fours, with a chest twice as large as its rear and iron-strong muscles beneath all of that fur. Sam narrowed her eyes, _Are you another ghost coming after Danny!? If that was your intention, then I'm truly sorry because you have to face me! And I'll let you know that it's not fun to come at me when I'm pissed! _She was speaking to herself, but if she could, she would have said those words. It was hard to even speak a single syllable at this time however.

The guns fired, a humming roar erupted from the gun as two green beams appeared from the barrel of it. A cry of pain ripped through her ears a moment later as the beams struck the beast in the chest. It was thrown backward, and crashed into the ground soon after, steam rising from where it had been hit. With a puppy-like whine, the beast flopped over onto its stomach and started to get back up.

Sam glanced behind her, and saw that Tucker hadn't moved an inch. He was frozen stiff, eyes wide and looking like a complete idiot! _Damn it! Get out of here! Now! _She couldn't bring herself to tell him to leave again, so she ignored it. But, she had turned away from the creature a moment too long.

The large monster had sharp claws, Sam found out a moment later because she then became well acquainted with them. Sam was tossed into the air like a rag doll, with a long stream of blood now pouring from her face. A long pair of talons had torn through the flesh on her cheek and jaw. She hissed in pain, and after she had landed on the ground she brought her hands up to cover the wound. _Shit! _She snarled, and furiously worked her way to her feet again.

"Sam!" Tucker cried, taking a step forward, but immediately stopped after Sam looked toward him. In those eyes, it was easy to get the message of: _Don't move!_ Or rather, _stay away_. He bit his lip, wanting to help but couldn't think of a way to!

The beast was standing a little ways off, staring at Sam. His eyes were crimson red, and his rows of dagger-like teeth gleamed like pearls as they flashed before Sam's eyes. Saliva was constantly dripping from his snout, he was blood-thirsty and ready to kill, Sam could easily see that. She reached into another pocket and pulled out what looked like a light saber from Star Wars. She pushed the button on the side, and to her surprise, a glowing rod came out of either side. _Holy crap, it __**is **__a light saber! _For a moment, she was curious if it was dangerous to touch the green, but rather than try it, Sam prepared to attack again or defend if it came to that.

Droplets of blood trickled down Sam's neck from the wound across her cheek, it stung terribly, but she had experienced much worse in the past. She held up the light saber, getting in position once more.

To Sam's surprise, the large dog creature opened its wide jaws and with a loud voice it snarled out a few sentences of words that were completely foreign to her. It reminded her of Spanish in a way, but she wasn't entirely sure. Rather than ponder the strange outburst by the ghost, Sam gritted her teeth once more and kicked off the ground into a powerful sprint toward the monster. She swung the light saber high over her head, and brought it down onto the ghost very quickly. The impact made her arms tremble and convulse uncontrollably, and she jumped backward away from him.

The ghost had felt a sharp, boiling hot object tear through his arm's muscle, sizzling his skin and frying some of his fur that had touched the weapon. He raised his large snout into the air and let out a shriek of pain. The ghost then looked at Sam and again began to speak in another language. Although, rather than sounding menacing he sounded worried or afraid.

Sam heaved in and out deeply, all of the running and adrenaline was making her feel a little lightheaded. There was no compassion in her heart at this moment, she couldn't figure out why though. _Do I hate this ghost because he could possibly be looking for Danny? Do I hate him..Or is _it _because of my past experiences with Venom? _She narrowed her eyes, _No. This thing came after us first, for whatever reason, it shouldn't matter to me; I won't let him hurt anyone! _

A/N: I know that you're probably getting tired of me using school as an excuse, but I'm not lying! I can't believe how cruel teachers can be with homework! Do they spend all their spare time thinking of new ways to torture us? Because it sure feels like it!

**Anyway! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! Sorry it's up a little later than I hoped. **

**I wanted to get this up before Halloween, because I will be busy all this weekend. Heheh, yes I'm going trick-or-treating! (You're never too old for candy!) So! I hope that you all enjoy your Halloween, whether or not you celebrate it! **

**Please review! Thanks!  
-Desi-**


	7. Haunting Memories

Error's Rival

Chapter 7: Haunting Memories

**In case you forgot, previous chapter: Sam and Tucker were being chased by a large wolf ghost, and Sam had begun to speak! (Barely). Sam was injured a little while in battle and she is wondering what her motives at this point are…**

-The Ghost Zone / The Wandering-

Sweat and tears drenched the teen's face, dripping off of his nose and chin every few seconds. He couldn't help it, at a time like this it was the only thing he could think of doing…crying. "What am I supposed to do!?" He screamed into the darkness around him, which only echoed back into his ears, "Someone! Answer me! Damn it!" He broke down in sobs once again, _who am I? That should be the easiest question, and yet I don't know the answer. _The teen looked down at himself.

Then, he noticed something that he never noticed before…he was wearing a pair of blue jeans. The teen paused and stared at the pants, they were extremely dirty and torn up. _How did they become like that? _He reached down and touched the pants, they were rough and old; and another detail that he failed to notice was the droplets of blood that were now a near brown colour. _Blood? _The teen raised his eyebrow. _Why is there blood? _

He was wearing a white shirt that was well stained and in need of a wash. More blood was spread across his white shirt, and in the mix of blood there was neon green. The teen pulled off his shirt to get a better look at the details on it, examining it from top to bottom very slowly. _This is my shirt…but that still doesn't tell me anything. _He was about to put the shirt back on, however, another 'something' caught his attention. The teen gasped and gazed in horror at his bare chest. Scars covered his flesh endlessly! The teen was nearly hiccupping on his breaths while he twisted his body around to look at all the marks on his body. _What is this!? _The teen traced his fingers along his back where a ridged dent crossed over his back in the form of an X.

Something in his mind flamed up with realization. An image shot in front of him, he could see blood flowing beneath him, and agonizing moans escaped his lips while he applied pressure to the bleeding wound. The teen could feel the searing hot pain on his back, tearing through his flesh and muscle. "Stop!" The teen shrieked, wanting the memory to cease. He doubled over in place, his face twisting in pain just from thinking about it. _Did that really happen? _

The teen was still unsure exactly _what _he was shown, and he couldn't figure out what had happened to lead up to that point. But now he had a lead, and maybe he could go off of that memory to find out more. However, something that was still haunting his mind was that image he had received previously. It was of a teenage girl with black hair, and the most stunning, breath-taking purple eyes he had ever seen. It sent his heart racing wildly in his chest the instant he had seen that image. Who was she?

-Amity Park-

She was just about to strike again, but was stopped when a hand came out from behind her and snatched onto the end of the light saber. Sam turned and saw Tucker clutching the weapon, holding her back. _Well, _Sam thought to herself, _I guess that proves the light saber doesn't hurt humans. _But she also felt her heart race with almost rage, _why the hell did you stop me!? _

"Don't hurt him." Tucker quickly said to her, then looked up at the ghost, "he's not evil."

Sam glared at Tucker; _he attacked you and tried to kill us! And you're saying he's not evil!? _

"Sam, look." Tucker nodded toward the beast, "he's not going to hurt us."

She did as he said, and looked over at the creature. It was no longer snarling rabidly or preparing to attack, it was now hunched forward with its head lowered as a puppy would when it was scolded. The creature whimpered lightly. Sam noticed that there was something different about him now…she looked into the beast's eyes and saw that they were now green instead of red. Ectoplasm poured out of the wound she had put on his arm, and her heart began to throb with guilt. _What? How…_

A moment later, Tucker began to speak in the _same _language as the dog had been doing just minutes ago. He continued to hold the light saber as if he didn't trust Sam _not _toattack. Tucker and the creature communicated for a few minutes, while Sam continued to look back and forth between them, trying to understand what they were saying! "Sam, he doesn't remember attacking us. He says that he never meant to."

Tucker seemed convinced by this creature's words, but Sam didn't let her guard down. She didn't trust this thing. It's not like bumping into someone while walking down the hallway; you can't just say _'sorry,' _and move on! This thing just tried to kill them!

All of them (Sam, Tucker and the ghost) heard a car coming their way. The ghost dog had his ears perk up to listen, and then with a short whine, he took off in the opposite direction, with his large paw clasped over his wound. Sam still didn't lower her weapon; she glared in the direction that the ghost had taken off. _Hey, _she spoke to the spirit in her 'head,' _is he really leaving?_

"Yes, Samantha." She replied, only audible to Sam.

_Can you tell if he is good or bad? _

"No. But, I will admit that this spirit seems quite different than he did moments before. I don't believe that he is a threat any longer."

_Are you alright though? I know that he managed to hurt you-_

"I will be alright Samantha. You might want to put away that weapon now, you have company."

Sam's heart stopped for a moment, and she heard a car screech to a stop. She then heard some voices, some that she easily could recognize. Anger flared up in her heart, and rather than retracting the weapon, she pulled it away from Tucker's grip and held it up higher. _I guess I shouldn't be surprised, huh? _

Sam winced slightly and used the sleeve of her shirt to dab the cut on her face that the ghost dog had given her. It wasn't too deep, but it still hurt. Tucker muttered with concern, "hey, you alright? Maybe you should get-" He was cut off when both of them saw movement.

From around the corner three people emerged. One was a tall and large man wearing an orange jumpsuit, he had a square head (literally ^^) with black hair that was already graying in some areas. Next to him was a woman with wide hips and breasts, wearing a blue jumpsuit. She had red hair that was cut just below her ears, and she wore a pair of interesting goggles. Lastly, there was a young woman with long red hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was too thin for her own good and wore regular clothes, unlike her parents. Each of them stopped when they realized who they had run into.

There was a long pause of gaping until the youngest of the family finally spoke up, "Sam? Is that really you?"

Rather than answering, Sam just glared. It took everything in her to not throw a complete fit. She considered it partially their fault for Danny's death! They never came to help! They didn't even try! Where the hell were they while their _adopted _son was being tortured and then killed! (A/N: Remember that Sam doesn't know a lot of what actually happened with Danny. She wasn't there at the time.)

Tucker was looking back and forth between the family and Sam. "Sam," he whispered quietly, "who are they?"

But he wasn't quiet enough, because they had heard his words and the older woman answered. "My name is Maddie; this is my husband Jack and my daughter Jasmine." Even in this quite awkward position, this woman seemed very nice. "Who might you be?"

"Oh!" Tucker chuckled after realizing he hadn't introduced himself, "I'm Tucker Foley!" He pointed his thumb toward himself to prove him point. He looked over at Sam, and his smile fell when he looked at her. She seemed the opposite of happy…even more _unhappy _than she normally was.

It only took him a moment to figure out who these guys actually were. The strange looking gun that the large man held had the word Fenton put on the side of it, which is a dead giveaway. These were the parents of the guy that Sam used to know. At that moment, Tucker had a million questions come up, but he refrained from saying them; now wasn't the best time.

"Well, it's great to meetcha!" Jack boomed proudly, "Like Mads said, I'm Jack Fenton!" he grinned widely.

Tucker smiled in return.

"Sam," the girl known as Jasmine spoke in a quiet voice, almost like she was whispering to a frightened puppy, "How've you been?"

In response, Sam turned her head away from them. Her jaw was tight and her hand was squeezing the weapon in her hand so hard that Tucker was surprised it didn't snap in half. Tucker didn't know what to say, he hated being placed in this kind of situation!

None of the Fentons seemed to acknowledge the fact that Sam had tons of their weapons on her.

"Is everything alright here?" Maddie inquired, "We had a ghost show up on our scanners. We were downtown, but we hurried over as quickly as we could."

Tucker decided to answer, "Uh…a ghost?" His chest swelled for a moment, "that's what that thing was? I thought it was just an overgrown dog that could speak!" He paused for a moment, "aren't ghosts like…invisible and…non-fleshy? Or something!"

"I think you've been reading a little too much Casper the Friendly Ghost." Jazz chuckled. "I'm guessing that you haven't lived here very long, huh? Everyone from around here is familiar with ghosts of all kinds."

Pause. "So, let me get this straight; there are _ghosts_ here in Amity Park. As in…the _dead _people kind of ghosts?"

Sam visibly winced when Tucker said 'dead.' It brought back the painful reminder of Danny. She ignored the words that were spoken after that, they continued their conversation with talking about different ghosts and how some are manifested from memories of those that are dead, or they can be ectoplasmic remains that have yet to find their way to the 'other side.' _Did Danny go to the other side? Is he still trapped in the Ghost Zone? _She then had her thoughts move back to reality and she began to question what had just happened. _That dog ghost was good? And he attacked us? Why? _She thought of his blood-thirsty expression and the way he maliciously charged at them. _What snapped him out of his 'trance,' or whatever that was? _

This air that surrounded her was so thick with her own hatred, that she couldn't take it anymore. Sam decided that she better go cool off for a bit. She took a deep breath and then began to walk away; she couldn't stand to be anywhere near the Fentons then. Each of them watched her walk away, but didn't stop her, it's not like they could anyway, but they all knew that she just needed to have some time to herself.

Sam continued slowly down the alleyway until she reached the exit that was nearby the park. There was an area with a playground for little children, and a set of benches and tables nearby. But Sam went straight over to the bench that she recognized. She remembered that night several months ago;

_For the first time in her life, Sam wanted a shoulder to cry on, a warm hug to comfort her, a person to be close to her. Sam wrapped her arms around herself, trying to imagine someone else hugging her._

_Danny's face came to her mind. Sam smiled a little._

_For what seemed like forever, Sam sobbed. She cried herself to sleep, ignoring the incredibly cold atmosphere. As sleep took over her, she could almost feel a strong pair of arms wrap around her._

_Her imagination was so cruel; but Sam didn't want it to stop. She liked believing that there was someone there beside her. She felt a heartbeat against her, and gentle breathing._

_Sam slowly fell into a deep sleep. (Error's Love Chapter 6)_

Danny was there that night, she hadn't realized it then, but she later found out the truth. He had been by her side and protecting her long before she learned about his ghost half. Sam sat down on that bench, and then pulled her legs up and slowly allowed her body to become horizontal against the seat. With her legs tightly held up to her, Sam closed her eyes while continuing to lie down. She tried to imagine Danny being there with her.

Somehow, she managed to fall asleep while her thoughts continued to race through her head. But, if she had been paying attention, she might have noticed that the black orb around her neck lightly faded into a green mass of swirling colour, but a short moment later it returned to black. Sam, however, while asleep felt something heat up on her neck, and she moved her hand up and grabbed onto the orb. It was ice cold again, and heavy as lead. A small spot on her chest was bruised from the weight of the orb continually pressing against her skin.

Sam was back in Hell's Dungeon, she re-watched the same scene that she feared above all others, watching as Danny was beaten down to nothing. He was weak with exhaustion, and yet Rafael continued to attack, not letting up at all. She couldn't do anything to help him! She could only scream his name in hope that he would hear, and that he would get out of there. "Danny! _Danny!_" She cried continually.

Questions always came up whenever she thought back to Hell's Dungeon. Why did Venom help them? How did Venom know Allison? She remembered Venom calling Allison _Mrs. Takarra, _so that had to mean they had met somewhere before.

Things like these made her spend endless hours thinking of possibilities, but they were useless. Sam watched the fight progress before her, the small spirits of children fighting for her and Danny in order for them to escape. They were so brave to risk themselves like that, and that only made her want to help them more. _I have to go save them! I have to do it soon! _

Suddenly, out of nowhere in her dream, a creature came out of nowhere. It was hunched over, and had white hair, red eyes that had blood spilling from the corners of them, fangs that gleamed horrifically, and sharp nails like a panther. The monster snarled like a rabid dog, and lunged toward her. "Danny!?" She screamed, but it was too late, he had reached her in less than a second.

Sam bolted awake, sitting upright on the bench. Her body had ripples of fear running down her nerves, and her heart was racing uncontrollably. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, which she quickly wiped away with the back of her hand. _Danny…_ Sam looked around her, in search of someone. _Where are you? _

-The Ghost Zone / The Wandering-

The teen felt his legs buckling underneath him, his muscles contained less strength than pudding at this point. He longed to give in, to finally _rest _forever, but at the same time he longed to figure out what he had seen. That girl with black hair and purple eyes, he knew her from somewhere! A strange feeling came to his chest, a burning fire that erupted with emotions he couldn't identify. As that occurred, the same image of that girl came to his eyes, _why do you haunt my mind? Who are you? Why do I feel this way when I think of you? _

Another image came up, this one was different than the others…it was the same girl, but she had a wide grin across her face, and her eyes gleamed with tears of happiness. The teen didn't know what it was that was making her so happy, but he didn't really care, that image brought him into a tornado of joy. He could hear her faint voice speaking to him; he couldn't decipher the words however, then as clear as day:

_"I don't care if you have the entire army force up against you, I will not let you quit! You can't give up!" _Those words suddenly cut through his thoughts, and the teen looked up as if expecting someone to be standing there. _You can't give up! Didn't you just tell me that you have a reason to live? A will to live? You have just as much reason to live as anyone else! Don't give them everything that you deserve! Please! _The teen felt his hands come up and cover his ears, as if trying to block out the words.

His breathing became rapid and tight with strain, the girl continued to speak to him in his head. The teen knew he had heard those words somewhere before, but for some reason he couldn't come to a conclusion. The voice continued, _Promise me! Promise me that you won't give up! Promise me that you'll continue to fight! Promise me that you won't give yourself up to Rafael! Promise! _

The teen felt his mouth open and in response to the memory he quietly whispered, "I promise." He closed his eyes, with his hands still clasped firmly on either side of his head, "Who are you? Please, I need to know." It took him a moment, and then he gasped, "Rafael?" That voice had mentioned that name, and the teen knew he had heard that name before! "Rafael…" the name felt like toxic in the back of his throat, just the name made him feel small and scared.

The teen gritted his teeth, "Damn it! I need answers! All I'm getting is more questions!" His hands balled into fists and he slammed them down onto the 'floor' even though there was no real floor that he could see. "Please!"

_Her purple eyes turned red, and she stood up, fangs stretching into view from her mouth. _The teen looked up, seeing the image of the girl before him, and he felt his body become cold with an icy sensation, _claws retracted from her fingers, replacing her original hands into lethal claws. _His body became rigid with fright, staring horrifically at the girl before him. _She brought her hand back and slashed him across the face, creating a deep gash along his flesh. The teen let out a hiss of pain, bringing his hand up to the bleeding cut. He was on the verge of tears as the female came at him, he couldn't fight back. She brought her fingers together to create a point with all of her nails, and then drove her hand into the teen's abdomen. He felt her claws dig into his body just below his rib cage, and froze in place, feeling the air in his lungs cut off suddenly, and his head began to spin. He looked down as the female pulled her claw away, and his oddly green blood was covering her hand and part of her arm._

_He dropped to his knees, blinded by the blood that was dripping into his eyes, and trying to regain breath, but simply couldn't. Blood gushed out of his wound in his stomach, despite the fact that he applied as much pressure onto it as he could manage. The teen looked up into the girl's red eyes, "Sam…"_

The teen screamed with agony, not physical but mental. His eyes focused back to the pitch black world around him, and the teen had his hands clutching his hair, tugging the roots nearly out of his scalp. The searing pain on his head managed to make him calm down somehow. It was so real, the girl and all that blood. It was green blood. Why? The teen's vision blurred with tears, he hunched over and began to sob quietly to himself.

"Sam…"

**A/N: Yay! Danny remembered her name! But, he has yet to figure out his own, as well as many other things. ^^ I hope that you all remember these flashbacks from Error's Love, if not, well…these were all in Error's Love. This particular part was in chapter 27, just FYI. **

**I know that you are getting sick of this but…I AM SO SORRY! I know that it's taken me forever to update! But, school is getting worse and worse! I've been managing to write chapters during lunch and break, but other than that, I have _no _time to write! **

**I won't make any promises, but I am going to try and update sooner for the next chapter! Please review! Thanks!**

**-Desi-**


	8. Pyrros

Error's Rival

Chapter 8: Pyrros

-S.E.H.S Organization-

None of the doctors had asked about _it_, for fear that it was something they didn't _want _to know about. They had a contract with Rafael Leonardo, so they couldn't just up and leave whenever they wanted. They had to continue through several painful years of working for this mad man. It did, however, pay very well. But money was not something they were interested in anymore. What was the point of having so much money if you never got to spend it or even enjoy it!

All of the broken equipment had been cleared out of the large dungeon in less than a day, and something new was brought in. _Another experiment!? _All of them asked themselves. _Haven't you had enough already!? _The thing that was most impressive and at the same time frightening, was a giant glass cylinder that was upon a flat platform, the cylinder was filled with green liquid that glowed with light. Bubbles of green rose up from the bottom, showing that the machine – whatever it was – was running.

But, it wasn't necessarily the machine that caused the others to fear, it was what was _inside _the machine. Rafael stood facing his newest device, a wide grin spread across his face. "What do you think, Allison?" He turned around to the transparent female that was well restrained with binds that she couldn't break through.

"What are you doing!? Are you going to start this again!? Damn it, Rafael! Do you realize what you've caused already? This has to end!"

Rafael chuckled, "My last experiment failed, so, I am going to try a new approach. But, _that _will wait. For now," he raised his hand and placed it on the glass, tapping it gently, "_he _will come in handy."

-Amity Park-

Sam leaned forward, pressing her hand against the blood on her face. She hissed from the pain, but it wasn't too bad, the wound was already beginning to heal. Tears rolled down her cheeks, but not because it hurt, "D-d…" She stuttered helplessly, "Danny…" she cried. Fountains of water slid down her face, and Sam sniffled while sobbing continuously. She reached up to the black orb, feeling the weight in her hands like coal. _That ghost…what did it want? _She cried. _Why did I attack!? _She thought back to when Tucker had held the weapon back. _I didn't even bother to give it another chance! I just…attacked! Why!? _She buried her face into her hands.

"Danny…Danny…Danny…" the name rolled off her tongue, coming easier and easier every time. Like a piano melody, the name was beautiful to hear, and she felt better just repeating his name. Sam looked down at herself, the belt and weapons all over her body. Furiously, Sam began to pull them off of her like a wild animal, tossing them a good distance away from her, letting out a grunt of anger with each throw. _I hate it! I hate this! I hate them! I hate it all! _With her teeth grit together, Sam stood up from the bench, her body much lighter without the weaponry.

She began to walk down the pathway near the roads; it was still empty around here for some odd reason. There was no one around. Sam wrapped her arms around her stomach, holding herself like a child clinging to its mother. "Danny…" her voice cracked, "you can't be dead…you promised me…you _promised_…" she coughed, "you have to be alive! Damn it!" She threw her head back and cried to the heavens, "Danny!"

_The teen screamed with agony, not physical but mental. His eyes focused back to the pitch black world around him, and the teen had his hands clutching his hair, tugging the roots nearly out of his scalp. The searing pain on his head managed to make him calm down somehow. It was so real, the girl and all that blood. It was green blood. Why? The teen's vision blurred with tears, he hunched over and began to sob quietly to himself. _

"Sam…"

The black orb suddenly began to burn against Sam's skin; she froze in place and felt as the heat increased rapidly. For a brief moment, it turned bright neon green, and Sam could feel her skin frying in agony. She screamed and put her hands over the orb again. It hurt…Sam nearly ripped the necklace from her body, thinking that the pain wouldn't stop, but something held her back.

Sam looked up, "Danny?" She could have sworn that she heard him speak! She was losing her voice extremely quickly, "Danny?" she repeated, her eyes wide with anxiety as well as pain. _Stop it! _She wanted to scream at the orb, _stop this! What is it? This has never happened before! _Her hands stung with the intense heat, _I don't want to! I don't want to take this off! But I can't take this much longer! _She screamed again.

A hand came from behind Sam, pulling her hands away from the orb, and the next moment, Sam saw the orb fall to the ground. The usually black sphere was now a glowing green, almost white colour. She lunged for it; "no!" she didn't want to part with it! It was the only thing of Danny's that she had! But something held her back.

"Sam! Stop!" Tucker held onto both her wrists, "don't touch that!" He could tell that she wasn't listening, but that didn't stop his attempt. "Sam! Stop it! Now!" He felt as though he were scolding a dog. The next moment, Tucker realized that Sam stopped pulling against him, and she let her body collapse into him, he caught her with surprise, "Sam?" he worriedly asked. Slowly, he lowered her down to the ground, holding her head up however, so that he wouldn't accidently drop her. _Did she pass out? _No, she hadn't. He noticed that her eyes were still open; she was just dazed.

Tucker looked at her palms and hissed from the sight. The skin on her palms was blistered with red blotches and the flesh was fried to the core. _Why was she holding that? Why didn't she drop it the second it did…whatever that was? _Tucker looked over at the orb; it was back to its original colour now. He looked back at Sam, "You alright?"

Tears continued to roll down from her eyes; her face was twisted with agony, "Danny." She reached out toward the necklace, her hands convulsing uncontrollably.

Her voice…it was filled with so much suffering and misery, and she sounded so alone as she spoke his name. Tucker had her voice ring in his ears for endless seconds, and finally he shook himself out of his thoughts, "Sam," he grabbed onto her hand that reached toward the necklace, stopping her from touching it, however, he wasn't as aggressive this time, "please, calm down. Don't touch that. Look at what it did to you!" He pointed to her hands.

Sam glanced down at her hands, not at all surprised by what she saw. She was so out of it for some reason, it was like…a boulder had been pulled off of her shoulders. It was amazing, but at the same time, Sam realized that it was part of Danny that was taken away from her, and that itself was torture. An audible sob came from Sam.

Tucker gently pulled her closer. "It's okay, Sam. It's okay." He didn't know exactly why Sam was crying; it was obvious that it wasn't from pain, but whatever the reason it wasn't important right now. Sam looked up into Tucker's worried eyes, purple and turquoise directly into the other.

"Tucker…" she didn't get to finish what she wanted to say, because the next moment, Sam threw her arms around his shoulders and cried into his shirt, and he just held her.

-The Ghost Zone / The Wandering-

"Sam…" The teen's eyes suddenly grew wider than physically possible. "Sam!" He cried out her name with realization. The teen stood up, his hands trembling uncontrollably as though an electric shock had just hit him, "Sam!!" He screamed, a wide smile spreading across his face. He could see her face, the outline of her figure and the colour of her skin, her hair, her eyes. His heart swelled like never before, he could feel her hand resting in his own, the warmth of her skin unbearably lovely. The teen saw her lips pull into a smile before his eyes.

He put his hand up to his mouth, remembering the taste of her lips. _How can I know your name…but not know my own? _The teen fell back down to his knees, knowing that he had reached his limit long ago, and it was best to take it easy. He closed his eyes, _who are you, Sam? Why do you affect me so much? _

_Before I had remembered her name…I remembered another…_ The teen thought to himself, _Rafael… who is that? _The name didn't bring him a good feeling like Sam's had, instead, it made him grit his teeth painfully and clench his hands together. He searched deep within himself, trying to recall where that name had come from.

The teen closed his eyes for a brief moment, and when he reopened them, he found himself inside of a cell, his body curled up like a folded mattress and what was worse? He was alone. There was no light in there, no sound except for the thumping of his own heart. _Where am I? _

He flinched when the screeching door opened, and a tall man stepped inside. The long doctor's coat hung down to his ankles, he had black hair tucked behind his ears, and the man had the most disturbing gray eyes the teen had ever seen in his life. Those cruel circles of hate had long lost their gleam of life.

The teen didn't know what was happening, his actions just played out without him even doing anything. "What do you want!?" He growled with gritted teeth.

"Now, I expect a proper greeting from you." The man spoke sharply, "show some respect to us."

_Us? Who is us? Do I know this man?_

The teen began to convulse with fury, "Do. Not. Tell. Me. What. To. Do!" He surprised himself when he sprung from his position at break-neck speed, lunging forward t that man. But a moment later, he felt his body forced to the ground, and a loud _crack _echoed through his head just before his head began to swim with pain from the collision. The man held him down and was inches from his face.

"You_ will_learn respect!" He snarled, "and don' thin you can sneak up on me or even land a punch on me. I know _all _of your moves."

The teen felt himself try to wriggle out of the man's grasp but was unsuccessful, "let go of me!" he cried.

"No. You have work to do." He forced the teen to his feet and dragged him out of the cell.

The teen blinked again, it all vanished from view, the cell and the man. "Rafael…is that you? _Was _that you?"

_"You will learn respect—" "I know all of your moves –" _There was something missing…

-Amity Park-

"Tucker," Sam moaned weakly into his shirt as she sobbed, "It's my fault! It was my fault!" tears rolled down her cheeks as he managed to speak, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"What are you sorry for?" Tucker asked in a whisper. He couldn't think of anything she had done wrong.

"He's dead! He's dead because of _me_!"

Tucker's eyes widened, realizing then who she meant. _Danny. That guy who was her friend, or as I've heard, more than her friend._ Tucker didn't let up, he held onto Sam, and he didn't feel embarrassed or scared, for some reason he felt just like he was comforting a friend. "Sam…" he mumbled, what was he supposed to say? 'You're wrong; it's not your fault.' He didn't know anything about the situation, so he couldn't say anything; Tucker remained quiet.

He looked over at the orb that lay a few feet away from them. _What does that thing mean to her? What is it anyway!? _

"Sam, I'm sorry." Tucker gave a short and cooing reply after several moments of silence.

-The Ghost Zone / The Wandering-

The teen felt his lungs suddenly collapse inside of him, he began to gag on some invisible force as though he were punched in the stomach all of a sudden. He brought his hands around his ribs, trying so hard to regain his breathing. _What…is this? What's happening!? _His eyes clamped shut, _no! no! no! This can't happen! _

He looked up. "Sam?" He could see her. She was only about a foot away from him, being held by another guy, and tears rolled down her face like no other. "Sam!" He cried out, hoping that she could hear him. He tried to move, he tried! But…from his spot on the cement, he was frozen stiff, unable to do anything.

-Amity Park-

Sam brought her head up, "Danny?"

-The Ghost Zone / The Wandering-

"Sam!" _Why can't she hear me! Please! _"Sam!!!"

-Amity Park-

Sam turned her head toward the orb. She thought that her mind was playing tricks on her; she could have sworn she heard her name! The orb…she could see Danny, he was so close.

-The Ghost Zone / The Wandering-

The teen reached out toward her, and he could see her do the same. They stretched toward each other, straining to touch the other; then…he could see the picture begin to fade. "Sam! No! Don't go!" He screamed, he begged…he didn't want to be alone again!

-Amity Park-

His face began to disappear, "Danny!" She howled, "Stay!" She was released from Tucker's arms, due to the fact that she pulled her body away in an attempt to reach Danny. "NO!" She jumped forward and grabbed onto the orb, "Please! NO!" She couldn't lose him again! "Danny!!!"

-The Ghost Zone / The Wandering-

"God Damn It!" The teen roared, slamming his fists into the floor. He could feel his body slowly fading away, "I can't leave her again! I made a promise! Please!" The teen stood up and ran forward, the large door appeared before him once more, "tell me how I can get back! I have to go back! I need to see Sam! Please tell me how!" He pounded on the door relentlessly.

_She…said my name…Sam said my name! _

_"You will learn respect, _Danny_!" "I know all of your moves, _Danny_." _

"My…name?" The teen stood there, frozen in place with his eyes wide, "Danny…"

-S.E.H.S Organization-

Rafael turned to the machine, "_he _hasn't yet developed enough to be released, but the progress is much better than I could have imagined! In just a few hours, he has already advanced!"

Inside of the glass vase, there was ectoplasmic liquid filling the entire thing, and there was something else as well. A creature, floating unconsciously in the same place; large wires were attached all across his bare body. The wires fed him energy constantly, awakening his fragile body as a new being. From far away, the creature might look like a human, but up close, it was obvious that it was nothing of the sort!

Long, pointed ears came from the sides of his head rather than round ears. Two sharp teeth came up over his upper lip, and cat-like whiskers grew from his cheeks. The creature had human hair that was a little too long; it traveled down past his ears and was a neon green colour. Rather than hands, this thing had razor sharp claws, and metallic knife-like weapons were growing _out from _his forearms. The creature had long spikes emerging from his spine, sticking straight out about a foot, and skin was growing between each spike, and veins could be seen within the paper-like skin. Its ankles were awkwardly built, with less heel and longer toes, which also matched his hands with their talon-structure.

"Magnificent, isn't he."

"You're disgusting!" Allison snarled, "what have you done to this child!?"

"This is not, and never was a child. I created this from scratch!" Rafael laughed, "This method takes longer, but it is much more effective than using those pathetic children. With him," he waved his hand to the creature, "I can create him exactly how I _need _him."

"They are not pathetic!" Allison roared, her temper flaring inside of her, "they're _real_ people! This thing is not real; it will never be what those children were! It will turn against you eventually! Just like everything else that you screw with!" She glared hatefully at her former boss, "you killed your own son for god's sake! Once this thing gains the knowledge of reality, it will destroy you!"

"If it starts to lead down that path, then I will terminate my creation, just like I have with all my past failures." Rafael smirked, "and you're wrong, my son chose his own death. That _boy _could've left with his girlfriend and never come back. He was brave, which is what made him also _stupid_. Subject 112 was just like his mother, brave and idiotic!"

"Danny! His name is Danny! Don't call him Subject 112!" Allison quickly snapped, then continued, "he was brave! Everything he did had a meaning behind it! Unlike you, he helped others! And what did you do? You just took everything he was and could be, and twisted it completely around!"

"Allison, please," Rafael scoffed, "you just speak of nonsense. And this conversation is just boring me now," he waved his hand to her in a gesture of 'shut-up.' "You know nothing of my creations, and you know nothing of my past to use against me, I however know all about you." He grinned, "That's right. Unlike me, you have family that is still alive, correct?" He slowly took steps toward Allison, "Be a good girl and keep quiet while I work."

Allison spit down at his feet, "go to hell where you belong, you monster!"

Rafael ignored her and turned back to the vase of ectoplasm, "Soon, Pyrros." A smile spread across his face, "Very soon."

**A/N: This story will NOT become a TXS fic! That whole part with Sam and Tucker was not hinting toward a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship at all! They are friends! Not lovers! ^^ I just wanted to make that clear to all of you! Yes, I admit, I can be cruel to many characters, but something I will never do is break up Sam and Danny! **

**SO SORRY! I know that this was extremely jumpy and probably annoying, but I'm trying my hardest! I wanted to get this out before Thanksgiving, and I'm glad that I was able to! ^^ Please review!**


	9. Reality

Error's Rival

Chapter 9: Reality

-The Ghost Zone / The Wandering-

"…Danny…my name…" The teen inhaled deeply, "I…" He stumbled over his words, unsure of how to react. A name, but it was just a shell, a hollow form in his mind. _Danny_ meant nothing, this teen realized. _What does my name have to do with who I am? _He asked himself, _if my name was Richard would that change my destiny? No, just knowing my name isn't enough is it? _

The teen was standing, facing the large door, his fists swollen from violently striking it. "Please…" Tears welled up in his pale blue eyes, the teen felt his knees give from standing, he wasn't strong enough; he slid down with his body leaning against the large door until he completely collapsed in front of it. "Let me go back…I have to see her again."

Danny's right hand curled up, "I was so close!" He screamed, "She was right there! Why couldn't I reach her!?" His nails dug into his palm, nearly breaking through the skin. "Please, please, I'll do anything! Damn it! Just let me go back!"

A low rumbled shook the ground beneath the teen, he gasped and scrambled to his hands and knees, backing up several feet as the doors began to swing open. The same voice as before called out from deep within the doorway, "have you made your decision, young one?"

"Yes! I have!" Danny cried out, "Let me go back! Please!"

"Back _where_?" The voice inquired with an almost smug tone.

"To Sam! I want to see Sam!"

"You don't even know where it is that _she _is, do you?"

Danny paused, it was true, he didn't know what it was called, or where it was. "So what? It doesn't matter! I made a promise to her! I remember that, I promised her that I wouldn't give up! I made a promise to myself that I would protect her! And I intend to keep that promise!"

There was a long pause before the voice replied, "very well, young one. _But_, there is a price you must pay."

"W-what? What kind of price!? You never said anything about a _price_."

"That's why I'm telling you this now, young one. There are always consequences for actions, whether they are good or bad, so for your decision, there is something you must do in exchange."

Danny looked down, "If you'll take me back to Sam, I'll do whatever you want."

-Amity Park-

"Danny!!!" Sam held the small orb in her hands; tears flowed endlessly down her cheeks. "Come back! Come back!" She screamed. _He was so real; it was like he was there! _Sam thought to herself, _I'm really losing it…It's no use. _"Why, Danny? Damn it! Why!"

A comforting pair of arms wrapped around her, "Sam, it's okay. Take it easy."

"H-he's gone…he's gone…" Sam whimpered, falling back into Tucker's embrace, feeling the drumming of his heart. All those times, Sam thought to herself, when Danny held her, she would always remember the soft beat of his heart, the ice-cold and at the same time warm sensation against her skin, she would always remember…This wasn't the same, it didn't have the same exhilarating feeling in her chest, she couldn't feel her heart racing with excitement. No…he wasn't Danny. Sam looked up into Tucker's eyes, they weren't the sky blue colour that she missed so much, and his hair wasn't the same wild bed-head look, "Tucker?"

For several moments, Tucker was wondering if Sam was completely losing it, her eyes were half open and staring through him; she wasn't looking at him, Tucker realized, she was looking at Danny somewhere in her mind. Never before had he seen someone look so lost, so lonely until now, and it made him feel sick to the core. Her pain and sadness was contagious, but in a way that Tucker couldn't help, he could only watch. Was it really worse to see someone in pain than to be the one in pain? True, when someone is watching, they can do nothing, but…the one who _is _in pain can say for sure which is worse. Tucker knew which was worse; the look in Sam's eyes confirmed it.

Tucker nearly jumped in surprise when Sam's blistered and burned hand reached up to his face, lightly touching his jaw before slowly pulling away, "You're not…you're not Danny." Her eyes closed as she fell into unconsciousness.

"No," Tucker quietly replied, knowing however that she couldn't hear him, "I'm not. I'm sorry." He remained on the sidewalk, supporting her body against his own, waiting several minutes in silence. Sam still clung to the necklace with the black orb in one hand. Tucker sighed, "Danny, whoever the hell you are, I swear I will kick your ass if I ever meet you! For the suffering you put this girl through, you probably deserve more!" A smile crept to his lips, "but, you mean a lot to her, so you must have done something right; are you really dead though?" He shook his head in annoyance, he didn't know the entire story, but Sam seemed to think that he was still alive, but she also said that he was dead.

Sam still had three slices across her face from when that ghost dog had attacked. Tucker slowly picked Sam up; he needed to get her some help before that cut got infected. But…_who can help her without asking questions? _Tucker would have smacked himself if he were not holding Sam; obviously there was only one place!

--

With a groan, Sam rolled over in place to get more comfortable. She pulled the blanket closer to her chest, snuggling her face into it. _Blanket? _Sam felt her leg twitch in an attempt to wake herself up, but her eyes refused to open. Something smelled nice, a faint scent but Sam noticed it, "Danny." Why did it smell like Danny? "Stay." She brought the blanket up to her nose, the closer it was the stronger the scent became. One eye weakly opened, followed by the other.

Still unable to get a clear view of her surroundings, Sam reached up to her throat to grab a hold of the small orb…for a moment, Sam felt her heart stop, her breathing cut off as well; time stood still as she felt nothing but bare skin. The blanket was thrown off of her body faster than a cheetah catching its prey, and a moment later she was airborne…but only for a moment, because then gravity took over and she crashed into the ground. "Danny!" She called out for the necklace, "Danny!!"

Completely oblivious to her surroundings, Sam began to throw everything around her out of the way in search for her precious orb. Sam looked up at the couch beside her, with a blanket now hanging over the edge of it; a few pillows also had been set up on the couch, with an indent due to Sam sleeping on it. _This…_she reached forward and touched the fabric of the furniture _isn't my sofa…_At her mansion, they had a velvet covered couch with silver coloured rings lining the edges, and Sam had always found it to be uncomfortable! _This is…_

In an almost unnaturally slow speed, Sam felt her body get up, and she began to quietly make her way to the staircase located at the other end of the room. _It's so quiet…_her ears rang with fear and anxiety, _but it's calm…_She reached the top of the stairs, the air pressure increasing tremendously in her body. Feet dragging, Sam continued her journey down the hallway, until she reached his room. The door already wide open, it seemed to invite her inside. _Just like before…his door was always open, when it was closed he felt like he was once again being trapped in a cellar. _Tears sprung to her eyes, _why do I have to cry all the time! _

Sam reached forward and touched the door leading to his room, feeling the texture slowly rub against her fingers. "Danny…" She coughed as her voice broke off, _I haven't spoken in so long; just saying words still hurts! _"…I know that you can't hear me," she took a step into his room, "but if you were here, do you know what I would say?" Sam coughed again, clearing her throat roughly, "I miss those times that we spent together." She smiled, "When you took me flying for the first time, when you held my hand for the first time, when you kissed me…I miss you." She reached up to her bare neck, "and now I'm afraid that I have lost you."

She walked over to his bed, tracing her fingers along the edges of his blankets as well, "You're gone, aren't you?" Sam fell onto his bed, "You're not coming back?" Rather than stating, she asked the question, as if expecting an answer.

"Samantha."

Lightning seemed to strike from nowhere, or at least it looked that way due to the way Sam jumped to her feet in an instant. Heart beating rapidly in fear, Sam began twisting in all directions in search of the voice. A woman? From the tone, Sam would have guessed that she was elderly.

"Fear not, human child, I am merely a messenger."

There was no one there! Sam tripped over herself, falling to the floor where she quickly pulled her knees up to her chest like a toddler. _How is that supposed to make me not afraid! Where the hell is she? _

_"Humans cannot see us, that is why you cannot see me, child." _

Sam snarled and muttered, "oh great, another spirit that can hear my thoughts."

Seeming to ignore that comment, the messenger continued, "Samantha. Do you desire to live? Your actions have caused you great pain, and lingering on the past can only deepen the wounds. The ghost child failed to heed my warning, and that is the cause of him losing his life."

"No!" Sam barked, "That's not the reason why! He's dead because I wasn't strong enough! He's dead because I wasn't capable of protecting myself! He's dead because of _me_!"

"Wrong, Samantha. You fail to realize that Phantom chose to sacrifice his life, he knew that his existence wasn't meant to happen, a human like that should not exist. Once we showed him the truth, he knew it was time to leave."

"How. Can. You. Say. That. So. Calmly!" Sam barked, "You treat him like a freak instead of a person! What the hell do you mean, 'his existence wasn't meant to happen'? What the hell do you know about existence!? I'm getting a lecture from a freaking _messenger_ who won't even show herself to me! Say whatever the hell you want about Danny, but he _is _a person! Danny would never abandon me for some stupid reason like that! He…" Sam's voice decreased to a low mumble, "…he promised me… Danny promised me that he would keep fighting! Do you honestly believe that someone like you could take away his will to live? Are you saying that you spoke to him? When did you-" Her eyes widened.

"Yes, I can hear your thoughts, child. You are correct, I contacted him the same day that he told you the truth of his past."

It was so long ago, but Sam could remember it…she stood in the basement with Jazz, Maddie and Jack Fenton, each of them huddled around the screen that was placed downtown, there were several cameras, but they were only focused on one. A lump had formed in Sam's throat as she watched Danny scream at what appeared to be nothing.

_"Leave me alone!" Danny snarled, "I don't care what you say! I will never surrender! I __will __protect my family! And I will not accept my fate! You are wrong!" He wailed with rage. "Show yourself!"_ _"NO!" Danny's body became engulfed in green energy, "Leave me alone!" (Error's Love chapter 23)_

"That was you!?" Sam screamed, "What did you say to him! Tell me!" She demanded.

"I merely told him the truth. Messengers can see the world before us, the world as it was before, as it is now, and what it will become. You fail to have that ability, so you also fail to see what damage that ghost boy put on the world. It was necessary that he be eliminated, if action had not been taken then, we would have had to step in."

"You would _kill _Danny if he hadn't died!?"

"Some things are necessary, child." A moment later, the messenger woman spoke up again, "your thoughts are troubled, Samantha. I can hear your arguments with your own mind. You can't figure out if the ghost child is dead or alive."

Hands clenching into fists of rage, Sam stood up, "I don't want to hear any more of this bull shit that you say is reality! You can't try to tell me what is right or wrong, I don't care if Danny's existence is an error! _I still __**love **__him!_"

The messenger sighed, "You are a fool, Samantha. Going against messengers is a useless act. Going against reality is just as useless. You don't really love him, Samantha. You loved the fact that he treated you so special, you love that he made you feel better than everyone else. Samantha, you loved what he did, not who he was. _That _is reality."

At this, something in Sam snapped so horribly, it could be felt by the messenger. Her heart nearly split to hear those words, those terrible words! A moment later, Sam could feel the bone in her hand shatter as she punched the wall, "**don't you dare say that to me!**" Tears streamed down her cut up face, blood trickled down from her lip from her tooth biting it, "you can tell me that Danny was a mistake, you can tell me that I am pathetic, you can tell me that I was stupid for loving him… but **NEVER** say that I **don't love him!!!**"

Footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs at a running pace.

Sam realized that her whole body was trembling, and blood emerged from her palm because of her nails.

"We'll be in touch, Samantha." The messenger said in farewell and then vanished; Sam could feel the room's temperature raise as the spirit left.

"Don't count on it." Sam snarled.

--

The journey was longer than a lifetime. Minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day…it continued for what seemed like forever! All the teenage boy could do was scream; He hated this, why were things turning out like this? He wanted to take back what he said; he wanted to go back to the endless darkness! It was much better than this! The pain of life, the pain of _reality _crashed down on him like a tidal wave. "Stop it!" He clawed at his body, tearing of skin and flesh with his nails. Danny screamed as a horrible pounding filled his chest, it was so slow at first, but then it began to speed up.

"_You are the first person I have ever opened up to, and you are one of the first people who has ever liked me for __me__. And…I don't want to lose you as a friend. You are my friend, Danny."_

He tore helplessly at the irritating sensation coming across his skin, the nerves in his body slowly began to awaken. "Get off me!" He roared at himself as though there were a million ants crawling along his skin.

_"Not all of them are dangerous. Sure, some of them are evil! But I mean…what about Phantom? He's a good ghost! He saved my life!"_

_"How can you know he's a good ghost? You barely know him, right?" _

_"I can tell." Sam said, "he tries his hardest to help others, and I don't have to know someone to know that they are good… you know that time I told the police that a burglar came into my house, and they were talking about it on the news? Well… the truth is, it was a ghost! And a pretty creepy one at that!"_

_Danny's eyes were fixed on Sam as she spoke._

_"And it was Phantom that saved me! It was so crazy! And I can't believe that someone would risk their life for me! I mean, he fought for me! I didn't know that there were people who would be that brave; I have only read about heroes', I never thought I would actually meet one!"_

_"You think Phantom is a hero?"_

_"Of course! Don't you?"_

_"I can't be sure…" There was a long pause and then Danny opened his mouth, but closed it again, then opened it, and closed it. It almost looked like his vocal chords had shut down._

He just wanted to see her face again! He just wanted to hold her again! The only way to do that…was to fight back…against death itself. Danny didn't know if he could do it, he couldn't take much more of this, but he had to! "I made a promise!" Danny wailed, "Sam! Help me, please, don't give up on me!"

_"I sometimes feel pathetic because I get into these situations and can never get out of them by myself." _

_"It's not pathetic. You shouldn't have to be in those situations in the first place! And you can't expect yourself to be able to handle everything alone all the time, that's why you need friends. Friends to support you; to be there for you."_

_Sam bit her lip, "Danny…thanks. You have no idea how much that means to me. And I really hope that you'll always be there for me."_

_"I'll try." _

There was a table, and on that table, there was a body. The body was strapped down to the examination table, and a cloth was draped over its lifeless form.

The room was pitch black; then, a small glow showed up in the room.

The teenager on the table inhaled deeply, and his green eyes snapped open.

**A/N: How was this chapter? Alright? I really hope so! I am terribly sorry that it's out late! You know how it is with school and sports and stuff, right? Anyway. Who could be coming up the stairs??? What is the price that Danny has to pay? Any guesses? ^^ **

**Please review!**

**(Oh, and another thing, I'm sorry about all the typos on the previous chapter, I have been rushing these recently. Again, I'm terribly sorry!)**

**-Desi-**


	10. Guilt

Error's Rival

Chapter 10: Guilt

Sam cradled her burnt and now broken hand, each pulse spread agonizingly through her arm making her hiss with pain. Someone was coming up the stairs…Sam turned to face the doorway, her body tensing with fear. Tucker? Jazz? Who was it? They had to have heard her right? Sam wasn't sure, so she waited a few more seconds before someone came into the room.

Eyes widening with horror, Sam nearly doubled over when she saw who came in.

"Sammikins!"

_Mom!? _What the hell was she doing here?

"Oh, Sammy! Honey, I was so worried!" Pamela nearly jumped over to her daughter, a worried expression showing across her face, "are you alright dear?" She lightly touched her daughter's face, "oh honey, I'm so sorry! I heard what happened!"

_W-what!? How does she know!? _Sam took a quick step back, she opened her mouth to speak, but no words seemed to come out at first.

"Does it hurt? I have some medicine downstairs that you need to clean up that wound with, alright baby?"

_Hold on! How the hell is she so calm about all of this!? _

"Don't worry honey; the others are down in the basement. I had that Asian boy tell me what happened!" Pamela raised a fist, "he was persistent, but I got the truth!" Tears welled up in her eyes, "I'm sorry honey! Don't worry; they assured me that they caught the raccoon! Those creatures are vicious, Sammy! I've told you so many times to stay away from them! That's how the black plague started!"

(_Is she on something?_) If Sam's hand didn't hurt so much, she would smack herself in the face because of her mother's stupidity. _Oh my god…mom, first of all, he's not Asian, you moron! Second, the black plague was not because of raccoons…and third! Who the hell told her it was a freaking raccoon!? Telling someone that a ghost dog attacked me is more believable! There are no raccoons living around here! I should just be glad that my mom is so pathetically clueless. _

"So, Sammikins, what are you doing up here?"

That was an easy way to twist the knife. Sam grimaced in anger at the terrible reminder of where she was. She was in Danny's room, or…his old room. At this, she turned away from her mother, letting her hair fall into her eyes as she bowed her head to her chest. '_Nothing_.' She mouthed the word, however no syllable escaped. _Maybe I used more words than I could handle. _Without thinking, Sam clenched her broken fist in anger and a moment later she cried out in agony.

-30 minutes previous-

Down in the Fenton's basement, Tucker hovered over the Fenton family's shoulders, observing everything that they were doing. None of them seemed to get annoyed by his curiosity and his nonstop questions. "What's that?" "Is that edible?" "Is that _alive_!?" "What's the gooey stuff for?" "Can I touch this?" etc.

Jack was _smart _enough to give Tucker (what looked like) a machine gun, which made Tucker's eyes water with fear and excitement. "Here you go! This is our very own Super Fenton Ghost Detector!" He introduced the weapon with a grin, "Right now it can detect any ghostly energy within a twenty foot radius! Cool huh? We're still working on it though," he added with disappointment.

Tucker gazed at the gun, running his fingers along the metal, taking in every detail of this masterpiece. "It's amazing!" He exclaimed_, but isn't it a little too threatening-looking for a ghost detector?_ "What energy is used to power it?"

"Ah, who knows!" Jack grinned, "Something with a long name that is too hard to remember! But, it works great! But if you think that's cool, wait till you see this!" He made his way over to a nearby table, followed by Tucker.

Maddie was on the other side of the room, her fingers typing away at the keys on her computer. She had her jumpsuit hood pulled down, and her goggles hung around her neck, showing that her eyebrows were twisted together with concentration; her husband's rambling didn't seem to bother her the slightest bit.

Jazz walked into the basement from the steps, Maddie immediately turned to her, "How's Sam doing?" She inquired.

"She's fine, I just cleaned her wounds again, and she's still sleeping." Jazz sighed, letting her head fall to her chest almost as if in exhaustion.

"What's wrong, honey? Are you alright?"

"Yeah…it's just…" Jazz glanced at the stairs again, "it's just that Sam…I'm worried about her, you know? The entire time I was cleaning the cuts on her face, she kept repeating the same thing…"

Maddie nodded, not replying with words. She gave her daughter another quick glance of encouragement before turning to her computer once more.

It was silent for several minutes, then Tucker had another question, "Hey, uh…who exactly is Danny? And how does Sam know him?"

…Jack put down the device in his hands, Maddie's fingers stopped typing, and Jazz's gaze dropped to the floor in silence. The awkward ring that filled the room was horribly annoying, and Tucker then wished he hadn't said anything.

"Uh…uh…" Tucker gave a quick and goofy smile, "Never mind. It's not the big of a deal, really." He chuckled nervously.

"It's no secret," Jazz was the first to speak up, "but…we aren't the ones you should be asking." She looked up at Tucker, their eyes meeting for the first time, _really _meeting. "It isn't our story to tell."

"Sam knew him better than any of us." Maddie said, "She's known him the shortest amount of time, but even so, if you want to know anything, you should ask her."

"Oh…" Tucker quietly muttered, "Well, I'm afraid of asking her. I mean, you saw her hands, they are completely burnt up and stuff, she held onto that _thing _like no other! She hasn't really spoken to _me _yet, I mean…she gave a few orders when that dog was chasing us, and she told me what to do, but we haven't really _talk _talked."

"Maybe it's not the right time yet." Jazz offered her opinion, which Maddie slowly nodded in agreement.

Tucker looked up at Jack, who hadn't done much other than stay quiet, his usual excited self was replaced by a tense and almost frightening person; not scary, but frightening. Tucker was also curious about why Sam had acted so coldly to these people, they seemed so nice, what could they have done? _I'll have to ask her some other time. _

A moment later, a light knock was heard from upstairs. The Fentons and Tucker looked over toward the stairs with interest. Unlike the others though, Tucker's heart skipped a beat in fear of who could be at the door. "Who's that!? Is it a ghost?" Even after learning the ghost dog was (for the most part) harmless, he had just spent the last hour learning about hundreds of different ghosts that suck out people's souls or steal flesh from human bodies! "What do we do?" He cried.

Jazz giggled, "If it was someone that was here to attack us, don't you think it's a bit proper of them to knock on the door? In the past when we had a ghost invasion, no ghosts bothered to knock."

"G-ghost invasion!?"

"That's right!" Jack's smile came to his lips once more, "a _huge _ghost invasion! Lots of freaky ghosts that would scare the living daylight out of ya! But we beat them all, didn't we!" He barked in triumph, raising a fist in the air to prove his point. "Of course, that hasn't happened here in Amity Park _yet_. But we're ready for a ghost invasion anyway!"

Each of them had forgotten about the door knocking and continued their conversation.

"Jack dear, there won't be any ghost invasions here!" Maddie gave a comforting smile to Tucker, "don't worry; you won't have to worry about it. But if by _some _chance there was, no harm would come. Ghosts don't hurt people."

"I beg to differ, Mads!" Jack bellowed, "You and I both know that ghosts can easily hurt people and kill them in less than a minute! But, the ones that usually hurt people and eat their souls are the really disgusting and ugly ones! Trust me, none of them are pretty!"

"Um…excuse me?" A new voice interrupted their conversation.

Tucker was the closest to the steps, he turned around and was face to face with a woman wearing a silk outfit, she had diamond jewelry and her hair was a freaky dyed orange colour that curled up at the bottom, not to mention, she looked like she was trying to pass off several years younger than she was with face lift. (Remember, this is Tucker's way of seeing her)

"Oh shit!" Tucker was on the opposite end of the room in less than a second, and under his breath, Tucker muttered to himself, "You were right Mr. Fenton!"

The woman didn't smile or look cheery at all, "My daughter, Sam…what's wrong with her? I saw her upstairs, is she alright?"

Maddie rushed forward, "You're Mrs. Manson?"

"Yes, I am."

At this, Tucker's jaw dropped open, "Oh snap." He backed into the wall and silently muttered, "I didn't mean what I said! Eh-heheh…" But to his great relief, Mrs. Manson didn't seem to give him any attention.

"Tell me what's wrong with my daughter!" Mrs. Manson demanded and even did the _horrible _putting the hands on the hips thing. "What have you done to her!?"

"Mrs. Manson," Jazz calmly spoke to her, "we haven't done anything to Sam. She was hurt, we found her, that's all, and we're taking care of her now."

"_How _did she get hurt though!?"

"Well, we weren't there, Mrs. Manson."

Mrs. Manson then glared at the teenage boy who seemed to be having a mini seizure while standing up, he was sweating with nervousness; "You! Boy!" She barked and marched over to him, "You were with my daughter!"

"How did you know!?" Tucker squealed, shrinking in size by the second.

"I didn't, but now I do! Tell me! What happened? I won't let my daughter be hurt anymore! Now tell me!" When it was silent, Mrs. Manson sighed and continued "My daughter has been through enough as it is. I don't want her to get her heart broken any more than it already is, so whatever the hell you're doing, just leave her out of it!"

"M-Mrs. Manson… I never had any intention of hurting Sam, honest!" Tucker swore by holding up his right hand, "Nothing bad happened though! You see…we were walking around and…suddenly out of nowhere this _freaking huge _raccoon just came flying at us!" Tucker waved his arms around dramatically.

Mrs. Manson gasped and clasped her hand over her mouth.

Tucker continued, "It was terrifying! Sam and I tried to run away! But…that horrible creature caught up…and…" Tucker shuddered, "it attacked! It managed to get Sam on the face, but before it could do any more damage, I (bravely) grabbed a nearby stick and hit that thing with all my might! I am, after all, an excellent baseball player, so that raccoon didn't stand a chance against _my _swing!"

Although Mrs. Manson couldn't see them, each of the Fenton's had their mouths open in disbelief at both Tucker's pathetic story and the fact that Mrs. Manson believed him!

"I'm just sorry that I hadn't gotten rid of that foul beast sooner! Then Sam wouldn't have been injured." Tucker sadly ended his story.

"Oh, dear." Mrs. Manson patted him on the shoulder, "it wasn't your fault! You are both lucky to be out of there alive! Raccoons are vicious things!" She turned to the Fentons who immediately closed their mouths and acted natural(er), "Will my Sammikins be alright? Does she have rabies or anything?"

"No, no!" Maddie assured her, "of course not! But just in case, we did give her a shot to fight against rabies!" She smiled crookedly, "We caught the raccoon soon after we found those two and sent it off to the slaughter house! They will take care of it immediately!"

"Good!" Mrs. Manson exclaimed.

Jazz looked about ready to cry from the pathetic lie and Jack just looked completely confused, however Mrs. Manson also didn't notice any of this.

"That's a relief. So, once Sam wakes up, is there anything else we need to do?" Mrs. Manson inquired, not seeming to find anything fishy about this.

"Well," Maddie replied, "yes, we do need to give her some medicine to clean up those cuts and probably some pain medication as well. But for now, rest is the best thing we can give her."

"Thank you for taking such good care of her." Mrs. Manson smiled.

A moment later, all of them heard a loud cry coming from upstairs.

"Sammy!?" Mrs. Manson's eyes widened and she took off up the stairs in search for her daughter. Tucker was about to follow, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Not yet." Jazz held his shoulder, "Sam should see her mom first."

"But-but…" Tucker reached into his pocket and clasped the small orb there, "I need to give this back to her…"

--

_Without thinking, Sam clenched her broken fist in anger and a moment later, she cried out in agony._

"Sammikins! Are you alright?" Pamela stepped forward.

Very quietly, but loud enough to hear, Sam replied with clenched teeth "no."

"S-Sammikins!" Pamela exclaimed, "Y-you just spoke!" Her mouth was wide open with disbelief, "You spoke, didn't you!? How long have you been talking?"

_Oh, that's right. _Sam remembered, _she hasn't heard me talk in…about half a year. _"You're the one that taught me how to speak; I've been talking since I was a baby." She grumbled, supporting her broken hand and waiting for the pulsing to calm down. Sam tripped over her words while she spoke, but it was enough for people to understand.

"Well, ever since that Danny-boy left-"

Sam shot a horrid glare at her mother before she began walking out of the room, "come on, let's go."

Pamela stuttered, "Oh...oh alright! Let's go then, shall we!?" She tried to smile.

Just before Sam closed the door with her good hand, she scanned the entire room one more time…as though she would never see it again.

"Oh look Sammy! It's your little friend!" She beamed.

Tucker, who now stood halfway up the staircase pointed to himself in confusion "little?" Then he looked up at Sam, "Are you okay? I heard a scream."

Sam nodded to answer his question before walking right past him, trying to hold her tears back.

"Sam!" Tucker called to her and ran to catch up, "here, you dropped this." He pulled out the orb on the chain and held it up, "I thought you might want it back." He smiled nervously.

Very slowly, Sam stopped and looked at the orb. Her eyes suddenly became wide, and unexpectedly, Tucker suddenly was smothered in a tight hug. "Thank you." Sam cried before pulling away and gratefully taking the orb back. Her hands were still crispy, but they didn't hurt anymore, except her broken hand still throbbed! She avoided touching that one.

Tucker couldn't help but blush like any teenage boy would do. "Anytime. But, come on, there is some stuff down in the basement that should help your hands heal quicker…Sam, is your hand alright?" He saw the swelling.

In response, Sam nodded "I'm alright." She followed after Tucker.

They came into the basement…Sam felt her heart stop for a brief moment, standing there in the basement were the Fentons, she quickly stopped in her tracks, eyes narrowing and teeth grinding together.

"Oh…uh…" Tucker forgot completely about Sam's issue with the Fentons, he didn't know what it was, but he knew that there was one! "Yeah, Sam…the Fentons have been taking care of you."

Sam hadn't thought that they would be there; she was too caught up with Danny's room and then the necklace that she completely forgot. "Mom," Sam whispered to her mother that was standing beside her, "I'll be home later, you don't have to stay." She spoke with a complete monotone voice, but a hint of fury mixed in there.

"Oh but honey, I can stay. I-" The look that Pamela received let her know what her daughter was thinking. There was something that Sam wanted to do that she didn't want her to be there. Pamela hated to leave, but who was she to interfere? "Alright. Take care, baby." She turned and went up the stairs, then soon walked out the front door.

Minutes, no hours, seemed to snail by as the silence went on. Tucker looked back and forth between the Fenton family and Sam, waiting for one of them to speak…or attack in Sam's case.

"Sam…" Maddie broke the silence, "We-"

"I don't want you to be treating me. I don't want your help." Sam growled.

"If there is something that you have against us, we can resolve any-"

"Something against you!?" Sam's voice rose and echoed against the walls of the basement/lab, "HA! Don't make me laugh!" She took a step forward, "the reason I don't want any of your fucking help is because you are all obviously not trusted to help anybody! Isn't the right!?"

"Sam, if this is about Danny…" Maddie's voice faded out.

"Hell yes this is about Danny! Your so-called help was never there in the past! So why all of a sudden are you available to help me!?"

Tucker was so confused; he had no idea what they were talking about.

"That is a completely different situation than this one, Sam."

Jazz nodded, "back then, we couldn't do anything."

"Obviously!"

"Sam, we were always there for Danny-"

That sent Sam off, she shook with anger and her good hand clenched in anger "You were always there for Danny, huh?" She chuckled, "that is the greatest load of bull shit I've ever heard! Where the hell were you when Venom showed up! Your freaking ghost radar things had to have noticed him! Where were you when I was under control and started attacking Danny!? Where were you when I was locked up!? Where were you when Danny came to my rescue and was brought into his worst nightmares!?" Tears leaked out of her eyes as she continued, "where the fuck were you when Danny was tortured and forced to redo all of his damn tests!? Where were you when he DIED!?" Her heart beat so fast that it hurt Sam's chest, she suddenly felt her legs grow weak.

_Clang! _Sam collapsed onto the hard floor below her after her eyes rolled back into her head.

"Sam!" Tucker cried, "Sam! Are you okay? Sam?"

All of the Fentons came forward to assist Tucker, but each of them had the same guilt written all over their face.

**A/N: I'm surprised no one guessed that Sam's mom would be the one to show up! ^^ Jezebel wanted me to put the raccoon thing in there for some reason, heheh…****So, how did you like this chapter? Was it alright? Please review! =D**

**This is my new-year's present for you all! I wanted to update by Christmas, but I was gone that week, sorry! Hope you all had a good Christmas though, and happy (early) new year!**

**-Desi-**


	11. Enemies and Illusions

Error's Rival

Chapter 11: Enemies and Illusions

_Why does it have to rain? _

The echoing musical notes caused by the rain had never been this cruel. The horrible wind had never threatened him so much before. The dirt had never seemed this painful before. His fingers bled freely as he gripped onto different roots and rocks, pulling his body forward with his trembling arms inch by inch.

_My body has never hurt so badly before…I never realized how awful and slow human bodies were…how breakable they were. _He hissed between his teeth, while his drenched hair covered his eyes. _It's…so…cold. _The teen nearly sobbed, he wanted to badly to stop, to collapse and curl up in a ball…to just give up, but he knew that he couldn't give up yet! "I…didn't come back…from the dead…just so that I could give up!" He snarled between gasps for air.

The teen pulled his head up, shakily throwing his black hair out of his eyes, the gleaming blue orbs were moist after being dry for several months, and it was painful just to blink. The muscles in his body hardly moved…was it because he hadn't used them in so long? Or was it because he no longer had his supernatural abilities that he used to? _Damn it! _He stopped for a moment, letting his arms take a break. The teen looked back at his dead-weight legs, _why won't you move!? _No matter how much he willed them to, his legs didn't seem to respond whatsoever.

Somehow, this time…leaving that building wasn't a cheerful as it had been last time. Last time, he was just about ready to do a dance of joy; this time however, he was considering going back. _There's no way I can last much longer out here! _His jaw locked from the icy cold bite to his flesh, it made it difficult to grip things because he was so numb! Tears flowed down his already moist with sweat face. _I can't do it! _He bit his lip, "I…can't…I can't do it!" _No! Don't think like that! Get up! _Something inside of him fought to keep going.

Nearly screaming with anger, the teen lifted his abdomen and head up with his quivering arms and stretched forward with one arm, grabbing a nearby tree-root and pulled forward a few inches, then again with the other arm, and again till that burst of strength left and he had to rest once more.

The sun was beginning to go down, the storm only picked up as time moved forward and the temperature decreased. "No!" The teen's vision was blurred, and for some reason he reached out toward the half-gone sun, as though expecting to grab it, "stay!" he cried, and allowed his face to fall into the dirt ground once more, "stay…"

A low chuckling caught his attention. "Oh man, oh man!" A male voice roared with laughter, "you really have lost it, haven't you, _Danny _Phantom!"

The one known as Danny looked up with tear swollen eyes at the figure leaning comfortably against a tree, it wore a black cloak from head to toe, and all that was visible from the person was his bony white hands and the glowing red eyes beneath his hood.

"V-Venom." Danny weakly acknowledged his enemy, unable to keep eye-contact for long because Danny found that his head was swaying from side to side. "What do you want?" He desperately wanted to sound threatening, or to at least stand and face his enemy like a human! But that wasn't happening, he _sounded _weak, he even _looked _weak….he _was _weak.

"How're things, Phantom? Oh..wait," Venom chuckled, "that's right, I can't really call you Phantom anymore, can I? You lost your powers, didn't you? Well, I guess that's expected huh? Made a deal with the devil, did you?" Venom enjoyed taunting the powerless teen, "bad choice! What was the deal? I already know that you lost your powers, that's a given." Venom ignored the glare he received from Danny, "but you had to have given more. The Gatekeeper doesn't give life away that easily! He always expects something in return!"

"G-gatekeeper?" Danny inquired. _Is that the one that I made the deal with? _Danny remembered the large door, and the voice that came out of it. He shuddered thinking about that place! "How do you know about that!?"

"Easy! I'm a ghost! All ghosts know who the gatekeeper is! Even half-ghosts should know about it, except I guess you aren't really a half ghost, you never were. You just had ghost ectoplasm implanted into your body. All ghosts had to give up something in order for them to stay here on earth, it could be anything; their sanity, their body, their IQ, you name it!" Venom barked with laughter.

Danny didn't know that, probably not many humans knew about this fact either.

"Why are you here?" Danny decided to ask, even though he really didn't expect a reasonable answer at all.

"Aw, why not? I just thought that I'd say hi! It's not every day that your friend comes back from the dead!" Venom laughed once more.

"Who the hell…said I was your…friend!?" Danny heaved in and out, trying to remain conscious while he spoke with Venom.

"Well, all those times we fought, don't take it too personally! Alright? It was a job." Venom grinned, even though Danny couldn't see it because of that hood. "Besides, you're just too much fun to play with! Why wouldn't I call you a friend!?"

"Well, friends usually don't try to kill each other!" Danny spat hatefully.

"Hm…good point. Well, anyway! I didn't come here to argue with you!"

Danny didn't even see Venom move, all he knew was that his back was slammed up against a tree, and Venom held him up off the ground with his bony white hand around his throat. Although oddly, at the same time, he felt as though something were placed on top of his head… Danny spit out a mouthful of blood from the horrible impact. The bones that supported his head to the rest of his body were slowly being squeezed together, cutting off his airway. Danny opened his mouth, trying to suck in air, but nothing came through.

"I liked it better when you could fight!" Venom growled, "I told you before! You're not off the hook, just because I helped you get your girlfriend out of there doesn't mean that I'd be nice forever! _Now _I just want to kill you because you piss me off!" He turned and swung his arm around, throwing Danny with hardly any force at all, but it still caused Danny to hit a tree ten feet away.

After the bone-shattering impact, Danny fell limply to the ground, gasping desperately for air and hissing in agony.

The rain continued to splash across the dirt, the wind continued to whistle between the thousands of trees, and the sun continued to fall behind the mountains. The world continued to go on, time still passed, while Danny felt like his time had stopped…he wanted the rain and the wind to stop, he wanted the sun to stay…but that wasn't going to happen…life continued, completely ignoring him.

Danny felt his body jerk forward and he could taste blood as it ran past his lips. A shadow was cast over him when Venom came and stood over Danny's dying body. "V-venom…" Danny looked up with wide eyes, "s-stop…I can't fight…I-I need to get back…"

Venom smirked, "I know you can't fight, which pisses me off, but you know what?" His voice dropped to a mere whisper, "I don't care!" He laughed, "I don't care that you want to go back!" He put his foot on top of Danny's stomach, "fight however you can! Now, Phantom! Fight!"

Danny narrowed his eyes, something felt different; the image of Venom seemed to glitch like a poorly made television. "Th-this isn't real…" he whispered, trying hard to see what he had seen a moment before. Something wasn't right!

"Oh, really?" Venom laughed, "Why do you say that?" He began to press his foot down on Danny's stomach.

Eyes squeezing shut with pain, Danny fought to speak "Because…" he whimpered but realized he didn't have an explanation, "…I don't know!" He winced from the pressure on his stomach; his body was so fragile now! Danny knew that he didn't stand a chance against Venom's attacks anymore!

"_Nice _answer," Venom sarcastically grumbled, "way to think outside the box. You know, Phantom, I could easily kill you right now."

"But you won't! You would never kill me! You never have in the past" he inhaled and exhaled quickly and sharply, trying to relieve some of the pressure on his bones somehow, "It's like you said, I'm too much of a game for you." Danny screamed when he felt a rib give, he put his hands up to Venom's foot and tried to push it away.

"Not anymore you're not! You're totally pathetic now, so I really have no use for you. Heh! But you know what, at the same time, you're not totally useless. You see, in the past, whenever I gained a new power, I always liked to try it out on someone, and you were the only person who could ever stand up against me! You're like my little guinea pig!" He chuckled.

Danny's eyes widened in realization. _Something _was still pressing on his head…

"Aha! Now you're getting it, Danny." Venom grinned.

"This is…all fake!" Danny cried with a snarl, "I was right! You're not really here! None of this is happening!"

Venom pulled his foot back, "You're pretty sharp, Phantom. You're half right."

"W-what? What did you do!?" _He gained a new power? _Danny knew from experience with Venom that his new powers were always impressive…in a bad way. _It's an illusion! This is an illusion! Snap out of it! _He snapped his eyes shut tightly.

Danny reopened them, only to find himself belly-up on the dirt, once again in the same environment as before…everything was the same…he looked up and gasped, the first thing he saw was Venom squatting in front of him with his hand outstretched and placed on top of his head. Venom's eyes had been closed as well, but he opened them shortly after Danny did.

Venom grinned, "Can't tell reality from your imagination, can you, Phantom?" He pulled his arm away from Danny's head, "once again, my power turned out to be a success!"

"What the hell did you do!? And what use is it to create an illusion of you kicking the shit out of someone rather than actually doing it!?" Danny barked with fury, feeling almost humiliated by Venom's actions.

"I have news for you, Phantom. We may have been fighting inside of your mind, but do you really believe that you can't get hurt through illusions?" Venom reached toward Danny again and lightly touched Danny's rib.

To Danny's ultimate surprise, he let out an ear-piercing shriek of pain from the light touch. It was really broken. "Oh my god." He hissed, gritting his teeth, and looked down at himself…there were newly forming bruises as well. "How-"

"Do I look like I know _how_? Come on, Phantom, don't think of me as a scientist! I have no idea how the hell I even got this power! And I really don't care _how_ I got it!" Venom grinned, "But while you were gone, I learned about it and figured I could put it to good use."

Danny's head felt like lead and dropped back down to ground level, no longer listening to Venom go on about his new power. Any hope that he had of getting home…felt as though it had been squashed like an ant, there was no way Venom would let him go now, would he?

The sun had completely fallen now, it was so dark that Venom just seemed like a night shadow, hardly visible at all, the only thing that really gave him away were those eyes! Danny pulled one of his arms over his face, putting a barrier between his eyes and the world, he hadn't been in it long since he came back, and already he hated it. _I only made that deal with that Gatekeeper – or whatever he was – because I thought I would be able to see Sam again! But now that was all for nothing. _

"Danny! You're alive!" A _female _voice rang through his head.

_I recognize that voice. "You're…my aunt! The one without a name! Right?" _He remembered her! She was the last person he ever spoke to while he was alive, she was the one that promised to look after Sam after he had died, and she failed to mention her name, but did mention that he was her nephew.

"Yes, that's me. But…how!? What did you give to the Gatekeeper in return!?" She asked frantically.

_"How does everyone know about the Gatekeeper except me!?" _He barked in his mind, but rather than answering her question, he changed the subject, _"How is Sam!? Is she alright!?" _

"That all depends on what you mean by 'alright,' I suppose."

_"What's that supposed to mean!?" _Danny snarled, _"Tell me the truth! What happened to her! You said that you would look after her! Is it really so hard to-"_

"As a matter of fact, Danny, yes! It is hard to look after her! It is hard to keep her 'alright,' when all she ever does is mourn for your life!"

Danny bit his tongue, _"Sh-she what?"_

"You heard me, Danny. For the past six months, Sam has been in nothing but denial and still awaits your return." She sounded angry, not at him exactly, but just angry in general.

_"I…I didn't mean for-" _

"I know you didn't, that's just how it turned out. What do you want me to tell her? Should I tell her that you're alright?"

Danny took a moment to think, _"No, don't tell her anything. Just go on like you did before. I don't want her to have any more false hope over me." _

"Danny…are you alright? What's happening?"

_"I can't say. But I need you to leave now; I have a psycho I need to deal with." _

There was a pause, then his aunt replied, "alright, but before I go, I need you to tell me. What did you exchange for your life?"

Another long pause, then Danny finally told her.

"I guess that's no surprise, these kinds of deals are never easy." She said. "I'm truly sorry. But I appreciate you telling me. Good luck." She broke the connection.

Danny pulled his arm away from his eyes, and realized in horror that Venom had his hand resting gently atop Danny's head, "Well, well." Venom pulled his arm back, "that was a touching reunion."

"You bastard! You listened to the whole thing!?" Danny barked, wincing as his rib gave him a painful reminder that it was still there. _Oh my god, now Venom knows about my deal with the Gatekeeper! _He grinded his teeth, "you ever heard of privacy!?"

"I've _heard _of it, but was never really interested in trying it…so, you're woman is still waiting for you, eh?" He smirked, "Even after six months, wow. She either believes in you way too much or-"

"Shut it! Don't you dare talk about Sam!"

"I don't know if you're in a position to be making demands, _Danny_." Venom looked up at the sky, "looks like it's getting around night time. What're you planning on doing for sleep? I don't need to sleep, but you do…especially because you're just a human now…no, actually, worse, you're just half human…but not half ghost."

"Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about! And you have no right-"

Venom laughed again, "You're pathetic Danny; you always have been."

"You're wrong…" Danny's eyes looped around in his sockets, he fought to stay conscious. "I'll always be stronger than you!"

Smirking, Venom replied, "We'll see."

**A/N: How many of you can guess what his deal was!? You already know part of the deal, he no longer has his powers, but he is also not full human, he's just half human with no supernatural abilities. But what else? ^^ You'll have to wait to find out!**

**By the way, Venom's new power will come in handy later in the story! Just wait and see!**

**Sorry that this chapter was a little short, I'll make the next one longer! ^^ I hope you enjoyed reading this though!**

**Review please!**

**-Desi-**


	12. Unbreakable Promises

Error's Rival

Chapter 12: Unbreakable Promises

_-Previously-_

_Sam collapsed onto the hard floor below her after her eyes rolled back into her head._

_"Sam!" Tucker cried, "Sam! Are you okay? Sam?" _

_All of the Fentons came forward to assist Tucker, but each of them had the same guilt written all over their face._

--

"What happened!?" Tucker cried, holding Sam's head an inch off the floor in attempt to keep her more comfortable while she was in this state of unconsciousness. "Is she alright!? Can someone please answer me!?" He barked when no one replied.

Jazz, who was kneeling beside her along with her parents spoke up, "she'll be alright; she just passed out." She pressed two of her fingers up against Sam's neck just below her jaw, "her heart is racing pretty fast. We just need to let her lay down for a few minutes." She nodded to her parents, who did the same in return; all three of them lifted Sam off the ground and brought her over to the table in their basement. "Tucker, could you go to the kitchen and grab a wet rag, just soak one under some water."

"Uh…okay, where are the rags?"

"They should be under the sink."

Tucker nodded, "alright." And took off up the stairs. _What the hell was she talking about? So…let me get this straight, this dude named Danny is dead. But what was all that about tests? Who's Venom? Jeez! This is killing me! _

"Just be patient, Tucker Foley."

Tucker froze; _it's that freaky chick from before! The one who told me about that ghost dog! _He spun around, expecting to see someone standing there, it sure sounded like someone was standing beside him!

"Chick? Did you just refer to me as a _Chick_?"

"Oh, whoa!" Tucker said out loud, "you heard that?"

Grumbling, the female responded, "unfortunately."

"Eheheh, yeah, sorry." Tucker blushed, feeling really stupid at that moment, and somewhat humiliated. So…she could read thoughts, Tucker concluded. He wondered if she listened to his thoughts 24/7 or if this was just for the time being. _Oh god,_ Tucker thought, _then she's listening to me think right now! Gah! That's just creepy! Are you listening right now!? _

"Again, yes."

"Well, can you like…not do that? It's really freaky!" Tucker began to walk again, going into the kitchen and toward the sink, "so, care to tell me your name?" Again, it felt really weird because it seemed like he was talking to himself.

"Can't tell you that, sorry." She didn't sound sorry while she spoke however.

"Nice. Okay, so…is there anything you _can _tell me? What did you mean by 'be patient'?"

"I meant that you just need to give Samantha some time. She is going through a lot, but in time, she will tell you the truth."

Tucker sighed; he wasn't good at talking about serious stuff, so he decided to change the subject, "Okay, question! Why do you always say stuff like that? You always call Sam _Samantha _and just a minute ago, you called me by my full name. Do you always do that?"

"Can you try to be serious, _Foley_?" The woman asked. "If you're not going to listen to me, then I suggest you get that towel to Samantha."

"Oh! Right!" Tucker snatched a rag from beneath the sink and ran it under some cold water before taking off down the stairs. _Hey, um…can I ask what happened to that ghost dog? Do you know where he went?_

"Why so curious?"

_I don't know. I'm just…sort of worried. I don't know what really happened, but I do know that the dog was confused and seemed worried about something. _

"I can look into it if you want me to."

_That would be great. _Tucker smiled, _thanks. _He came up to the table in the basement where Sam lay and handed the wet towel to Jazz.

"Thanks Tucker." Jazz smiled and placed the towel on Sam's forehead. Sweat ran down her face and she was breathing a little heavy.

It was awkwardly quiet in that room while they waited for Sam to wake up. Each of them knew that they would only hear more yelling, but that didn't stop them from treating Sam. While she was unconscious, Maddie took the time to wrap up Sam's broken hand in a temporary cast while also putting a bag of ice on it to bring down the swelling.

"D-Danny." Sam muttered, her face twisting up tightly.

Jazz felt her heart drop, she stroked Sam's black hair gently, "I'm sorry." She whispered quietly.

--

Sam couldn't move, as much as she tried to, nothing happened. But that's not what bothered her. This seemed too unreal to be anything other than a dream, Sam found herself sitting in the midst of absolutely nothing, and she was staring wide-eyed at the small orb in her hand. Inside of the small orb, she was seeing something else. It looked like it was coming from someone else's point of view. It made her muscles tense as she watched.

She was seeing a forest, and there was a lot of rain as well as wind, and it was dark. From the orb's view, she could see that the ground was very close, almost as if the person was lying down on the dirt. For at least an hour, the view hardly changed, the person had moved no more than a few yards in that amount of time.

The person had their arm reach out before them, blood trickled down from their fingertips, and cuts ran up and down their arms from getting caught on bushes and rocks along this long journey. Not too long later, another person came into view, a cloaked person. Sam gasped, "Venom!" Her hand tightly wrapped up into a fist, "what the hell is he doing there!" For several minutes nothing happened, but the view seemed to fade in and out.

A moment later, Sam could see the sky and trees as this person seemed to be thrown several feet; she winced from the jerky movements and could only imagine that this person was in pain! No sound came through, which Sam was grateful for. "Get up!" she cried, wanting this person to hear her, "that guy is dangerous! Get out of there!"

The person was face up, laying flat on their back, and Venom stood over their body.

"D-Danny." She closed her eyes, _please! Please tell me that's not you! _But…who else would Venom attack? Sam hated this dream; she didn't want to see it anymore! If it was her dream, who else would it be about? Danny was the only person she dreamed about, and usually they were bad, like this one. "Stop it! Leave him alone!"

Then she heard a scream…it was Danny's scream. Everything became audible, and Sam could hear her love panting and moaning in pain right after a loud snap echoed in her head. She clasped her hands over her ears, "stop it! Stop!" _Why does it seem like Danny is always in pain in my dreams! I always have those flashbacks of Hell's Dungeon, he would return to our cell with bruises or blood all over his body! Why did he have to suffer so much! Why couldn't we just laugh like normal teenagers! Why couldn't we just have a regular relationship! _

"Because…" Sam answered herself, "…we were never normal to begin with. He's half ghost and me? Well…I've just never been the normal type to begin with. Was Danny destined to have such a dreadful childhood? Nobody deserves what he got! He didn't ask for this!"

Sam looked down at the orb again; it was fading again, "Danny!" She cried, and then laughed to herself through her oncoming tears, "why do I get so worked up over these kinds of dreams? They're not real. They're never real." She placed the orb into her pocket, blocking out the terrible images. _I need to know for sure…is he dead? _In her mind, she thought of the Fentons equipment, _there should be enough there to protect me. They also have one of those freaking rockets or something that I can use in the Ghost Zone. There has to be an opening closer to that place…If I can just get there, then maybe I can save all of those spirits trapped in Hell's Dungeon while also…while I also… _She didn't know whether to say 'where I also can save Danny' or 'where I also can see if Danny is alive.' Either way, the chances were slim.

_I have to do it though! We made a promise to Allison! We promised that we would save them! _

"I…promised…" Sam opened her heavy eyelids to see Tucker standing over her. "…Tucker?"

Exhaling deeply, Tucker said, "Thank god! Sam, you're awake! Jeez! You had me really worried there! Let me know when you're about to pass out, so that I can catch you or something! You hit your head when you fell down, it wasn't too pretty."

"S-sorry."

Tucker smiled, "no need to apologize! It's no one's fault. Hey, you okay?" He suddenly asked when he saw tears form around Sam's eyes, "are you in pain?" He hated to see her like this, it reminded him of when she collapsed after they had that encounter with the ghost dog, she looked so hurt, and he couldn't help her.

Sam shook her head no, "Nightmare." She whispered, and then turned her head away from Tucker to hide her tears. Realization swept over her, Sam snapped her head back toward Tucker, "where're the Fentons?" She now noticed that she was in the Fentons lab, but the Fentons were nowhere to be seen.

"Uh…well…they figured that you…"

"That I would freak out if I saw them!?" Sam cut in.

"Well, yeah." Tucker smiled sheepishly, "they're – hey! What'd you think you're doing!?" He pushed Sam back down while she attempted to get up, "you're supposed to rest!"

Sam paused, and with a glare that could burn one's soul, she snarled "if you want to keep your arms, I suggest you let go." Even though she would usually not be so cruel that she would say that to someone, Sam felt extremely pissed off today. Once Tucker released her, Sam sat up and let her feet dangle over the edge of the table for a moment before she jumped off. Blood rushed to her brain for a moment, making the room spin, but she got a hold of herself quickly and began to walk to the stairs.

"Um, Sam…would you, like…please lay back down! I'm supposed to make sure you get enough rest!" Realizing that he was being completely ignored, Tucker sighed in defeat and then decided to follow Sam up the stairs in case she spontaneously collapsed again.

In the kitchen, Jack and Maddie sat at the table flipping through stacks of paper and books, while Jazz was looking for something to make them to eat. "You guys have been going through the same papers forever! Why not get some sleep…or _eat _or something!" Jazz sighed, "Mom…I've been thinking about what you said…" At this, Maddie looked up. "…I'm sorry I yelled. I know that was a while ago, but I still felt bad about it."

Maddie gave her daughter a comforting smile, "you have nothing to apologize for, sweetie." Maddie stood up and gave Jazz a hug. A moment later, they both noticed that there were more people coming in. "Sam!?" Maddie exclaimed, "what are you doing up! You need to rest!"

"No." Sam growled.

Jack had put down his paper and looked up at Sam and Tucker; Tucker was doing a good job at hiding behind Sam in fear that the Fentons would get mad at him for not stopping her.

"I told you I didn't want you to treat me."

"Sam, you collapsed! We couldn't just leave you-" Maddie began but was interrupted by Sam.

"Oh really? I thought you were good at doing that. Leaving people alone to suffer! Right?"

"Sam!" Jazz stepped in, "that's enough! I understand that you're upset, heck, you even hate us! We can easily see that! What more do you achieve by making us feel worse about what happened!? Don't assume anything; you don't know anything about what happened. Your anger has clouded your head, you're lost, Sam. I can see that…please…just try to understand…"

There was silence for a minute before Sam replied, "Just answer me one thing…" Her un-broken hand clenched into a tight fist and her body shook in attempt to control herself from letting out another tantrum, "…did you love Danny…did you really love him like your own family…or was that all bull shit too…"

Jazz opened her mouth wide, "what are you say-"

"Yes." Maddie cut in, "Sam, you may not believe me when I say this, but I cared for Danny and loved him like I would my own son." Her goggles were on, so nobody could see her eyes, but her trembling lip was enough proof that she was crying. "I'm so sorry, I know now that I should've done more…I loved Danny…no, I still love him! It tore me apart inside when I found out that he was gone, but I was afraid to go in search of him. I was afraid of what I would find. I didn't want to believe that Danny was dead, but I know that sometimes these things happen. There is nothing we can possibly do to change that. Revenge only brings more hatred and sadness; we just have to accept that."

"B-but why! How!? How can you so easily tell me to accept that fact!?" Sam's voice rose, and her vocal chords began to burn with pain again, "I hate this feeling! How can you stay so calm!?"

"Sam, I am nowhere near calm. But, I had a feeling that this was coming, and so did Danny…" Maddie took a moment to bring the words up, "do you know what happened after you were taken? We found Danny and brought him here to help his wounds heal up." When she saw the pained look on Sam's face, she added, "don't blame yourself. While Danny was still unconscious, he said a few things…one of them was as though he were speaking to you, he said that he didn't blame you. He didn't want you to feel guilty.

"After he woke up and went berserk trying to escape in order to find you, he said something to us…"

_"I'm sorry." He muttered, "I don't know how this will end up. But if anything goes bad, I don't want to have left without saying goodbye…you all took such good care of me when I needed help and you raised me like I was your family. Thank you so much for your love and kindness. I wasn't always the best at letting you know that I cared, but I always did and I always will. For your own sake, please don't get involved with any of this. I have already put you at so much risk just being around you, but despite that, you were always willing to help. I don't want any of you getting hurt either."_

Maddie repeated what he had said, word for word as though she had memorized it. "I trust my children, and I trust them to make their own decisions in life. Danny made his decision. When he said goodbye, I knew he had something else in mind that he wasn't telling us. I couldn't go after him, it was selfish of me to do so, but he asked us not to."

Tucker stood there, unsure of what he was supposed to feel. He didn't know _anything _about Danny, but from what they said…he couldn't be sure if this guy was completely idiotic or completely self-sacrificing…or both. Danny died to save Sam, and at the same time he kept everyone else from coming anywhere near the line of fire. Tucker didn't know what he would do in that situation, but he definitely couldn't see himself being that brave.

Sam didn't respond with an insult or another backhanded comment…in fact, she didn't say anything. She turned and walked away. Once she was out of sight, however, she dropped to her knees and let out a silent wail of fury and confusion. _Does she expect me to forgive her!? Damn it! I can't! Why? Why do I feel even angrier!? Shouldn't I be relieved? _

"Samantha, please calm down."

_You? _Sam looked up, _where the hell have you been? Usually you start talking to me when I don't want you to! Where've you been!? _

It took a moment for her to reply, "I was talking to a friend, actually a family member…but that's not important right now. You really do need to relax, Samantha."

_Why the hell does everyone want me to relax!? _

"Because! You're going to kill yourself if you keep everything stored up like this!" There was a pause, "I heard that, Samantha. You forget that I can hear your thoughts."

_You have to remind me? _Sam looked down; _I can't remember what relaxing felt like. Can…can you help me? _She felt stupid asking a ghost to help her relax, but to her surprise, she answered with a kind "yes."

--

_This is stupid! _

"Just sit down! And I heard that too. Now just stay there!"

Sam snarled, but obeyed. She was now sitting on the roof of the Fenton household; she remembered when Danny brought her up here that time so long ago. It was no different than it was then, it was beautiful; they had a perfect view of the water where the sun set. _Now what? _

"Do what you were just doing."

_What was I doing? _

"You were thinking about the scenery, you were thinking about the good times you shared with Danny…keep it up. For once, I was enjoying listening."

Sam inhaled deeply, allowing the past to flow into her mind. A smile twitched on her lips when she thought of the time her and Danny went on a date, and to her great embarrassment, her parents treated the news like a marriage proposal. It made her smile to think of Danny standing at her door, waiting for her to come, wearing a nice yet casual outfit, his laugh and sarcasm…Sam missed those times. The terrible yet amazing jitters that swelled in her stomach when he was around, the fever that came over her when he held her hand…She looked down and thought about the park, when Danny kissed her for the first time. Sam's mouth when dry and tears welled up in her eyes again, but not with sadness…this time, she was happy.

The muscles along her body seemed to loosen a bit and Sam began to melt into a more comfortable sitting position. _Have you been listening to all of that!? _Sam suddenly barked.

The female let out a small laugh, "I didn't know _you _knew I was still here! You seemed so caught up with other things…Well done, I would say that you succeeded in relaxing. A little bit at least."

Sam sighed, and then changed the subject completely, _have you ever thought of doing something really stupid and life-threatening to keep a promise you made?_

"Of course." She truthfully replied.

_Did you keep your promise?_

"Yes, I did."

_What happened? _

"Well…I died. I was trying to think of a better way to put it, but…I really can't."

Sam noticed that this ghost seemed much more comfortable talking than before. _Do…do you regret keeping your promise? If it cost you your life? _

"Of course not. I knew in the beginning that my chances of living were slim, but I kept my promise anyway, I had to try at least. I will never regret what I did. Promises are supposed to be kept."

_What promise did you make? _

A pause, then the woman continued, "It was several years ago, but I had some family staying with me, they were in danger, I knew that fact and I also knew that there was a chance I would be killed by being with them. I made a promise to my sister that I would do anything and everything to keep her safe, I promised to do everything I _could _do. Even if it wasn't much, I still kept my promise. When the enemy made a move, I did whatever I could to lead them away from my family." She chuckled, "it's all I could do. But let me tell you this, Samantha, if I had not kept true to my word, I would never be able to live with myself.

"Why? Do you have a promise to someone?"

Sam nodded, "yeah." _And I have to keep it. I have to try my hardest. _Sam managed a smile, "thanks."

-_16 years previous_-

"Jill!" Her heart raced horribly as she ran down the hallway of the enormous mansion, she could hear the glass shattering in the other room, and the blaring gun shots hitting the walls of her home. Her bare feet slapped against the glazed wood, she wore an outfit that was a simple pair of blue jeans and a white tank-top. "Jill!" She called out again, coming to the stairs and taking them three at a time.

This young woman, looking like she could still be in high school, was very slim with a nice muscle tone to her athletic body, she had a faint tan, long thin black hair and gorgeous blue eyes.

A baby's cry caught her attention and the young woman ran through the closest of the many doors lining the upstairs hallway. The bedroom she entered was fit for a princess, but at the same time looked like a comfortable and nice place to live in. In the corner of the room, a female was sitting in the corner, tears rolling down from her eyes while she clutched a small child up to her chest, repeating a cooing "shhhh." To him in attempt to keep him quiet.

"Jill! Come on!" The young woman ran toward her twin sister, the two of them were completely identical except that Jillian wasn't as athletic as her twin, Noella. "_Jill_!!" Noella barked, snapping her fingers in attempt to get Jillian's attention. "Damn it! They're coming! You have to go! Now!"

Jillian sobbed, swaying back and forth for the baby's comfort, "we can't escape. We never will. Rafael will find him eventually, he'll find both of us; we can't keep running." She whispered.

"Don't fuck around now, Jill! And don't talk like that! I'll make sure you escape! Come on! Think about Danny!" Noella held her hand toward the baby, "do you really want to give up on him! I sure as hell am not going to let you hand over your child to that psychopath! Now, get up!"

Rather than moving, Jillian leaned her head up against the wall, "what happened? How could I not see this? I should have never fallen in love with that bastard, he seemed so different when I was with him; how could he change? Was I so blind to not see it before?"

Footsteps clattered around the house, it was quite a large place, obviously, so they had several places to look still.

Noella sighed, "I don't know, Jill. But you know what I _do _know? I know that if you don't leave now, you will regret it when that madman is holding your baby in his arms. Danny needs to grow up, if you won't run for yourself, at least run for him…please." She smiled warmly to her twin, "…I want to see my only nephew grow up."

Jillian couldn't help but smile in return, then she slowly picked herself up, still holding onto the small bundle in her arms, he seemed to be quieter now. "Alright, how do we get out? This is your house; you know it much better than I do."

Noella thought for a moment, "we'll be seen for sure if we run away from the house right now. I have a few hiding places we can go for now." She grabbed Jillian's hand and quietly, they both ran down several more hallways until they came to an old laundry room. To Jillian's surprise, Noella opened the dryer machine (that looked to be about twenty years old!) and easily pushed the back open, which created a small passage into a hollow looking crawlspace. "Get in! Hurry!" Noella held onto Danny while Jillian climbed inside, it was small but large enough to allow someone to move around well.

Noella smiled down at the beautiful child in her arms, "Good luck, Danny. And goodbye." She kissed the nearly-bald head of the child before gently handing him to Jillian inside of the dryer. "There isn't enough room for both of us," Noella told her sister, "there's another crawlspace I can hide in. Stay here for a little while; I doubt they'll find you. Be safe." She reached into the dryer and gave her twin a hug, then grabbed the piece she had pushed off to create the entry.

"Thank you, Noe." Jillian smiled, "for everything! I love you!" She added as Noella put the back of the dryer back on.

"Love you too, Jill." She whispered, and then Jillian was hidden from sight. "I didn't forget my promise, either." Noella inhaled deeply, her heartbeats pulsed in her ears like a drum. "I'll do anything I can to help you." She looked down at all the clothes on the floor, and quickly grabbed a handful of them, wrapped them in a ragged blanket, and placed it in her arms gently; it looked much like she was holding an infant in her arms.

Taking off at a dead sprint down the hallway _toward _where the men had broken in, Noella realized that she had a smile while she ran. _Rafael might be able to tell the difference between Jill and I, but these idiots won't. _She ran past them, even as they started yelling to each other as well as ordered her to stop.

Gun shots rang, but they didn't shoot her. Noella snaked her way through her house till she came to the front door and started running like a madwoman away from the house. To her great relief, the men were following her. After at least a thirty minute chase, Noella came to her destination…a bridge that crossed over a waterfall.

Stopping midway past the bridge, Noella turned around to face the men, she quickly lifted the bundle of clothes up for them to see, and slowly, she held the bundle out over the edge of the bridge over the waterfall. All of the men froze in place, holding up their guns in warning. "Come any closer, and I'll drop him!" Noella smirked, "I know what that bastard wants! He wants this baby, doesn't he?" _Jill told me all about his stupid and crazy plan to create immortality! The reason he wants Danny is because his own son will be as close to him as any person can get! If his experiment works on Danny, then it should work on him. At least, that's what I've heard from Jill. _"He would be pretty mad if you failed to bring him, huh?" _If they shoot me down and find out I have a fake baby, they will surely go looking for the real one…but if they can't find the fake baby, they won't look for the real one! _

Noella released the bundle in her hand, allowing the fake child to fall to his would-be doom. "Hope you all like swimming!" She was about to turn and begin running again, but a _bang _echoed through the air…Noella felt her head whip back in a sudden jerk, her left eye suddenly went black. Blood flowed down her face, and she realized that a bullet just went through her left eye. The ground was suddenly under her, and Noella did nothing but lay there, feeling the warm liquid soak the ground.

_Jill will have plenty of time to escape. It will take a few days at least to take me back to Rafael, wherever the hell he is…and then Jill will be long gone by the time he realizes the truth. Stay safe, Jill. Live, Danny. Please. _She smiled brightly, "goodbye."

**A/N: SO!? How was this chapter? Any good? Heheh, I had written that scene with Jillian and Noella a **_**long **_**time ago, I figured this was as good of a time as any to put it in. But I guess the mysterious ghost woman isn't as mysterious anymore, huh? You know her name now! ^^ Noella. My friend **_**Noelle **_**wanted to be in the story, but I changed her name to **_**Noella **_**instead. Sorry Noelle…Noella is close though.**

**Please review! I'm glad I was able to post this before finals ^^ urg…finals. (Tear tear) hope you all have fun with them as much as I will! (That was sarcasm by the way)**

**-Desi-**


	13. Keo

Error's Rival

Chapter 13: Keo

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update, as I've told many people, I can't find much time to write with school and sports and homework. But, also, I would like to mention something! Basically, I realized a big mistake I made! In Error's Love, on the last chapter I said that Noella was Danny's grandmother, but with this story it fit better to have Noella as his aunt, so I switched that without mentioning it! I'm very sorry! I got a PM mentioning this, and I realized I had forgotten to explain this. Sorry!

And with that, here is chapter 13!

Sam turned her head at the sound of a door opening. Behind her was the exit from the Fenton's home to their roof, a flat area with absolutely nothing on it. It was a perfect place to sit and gaze at the world below and beyond. "Hey," she smiled to her visitor, "how's it going?"

Tucker's mouth fell open, and he blinked a few times before finally replying, "Um…is that you, Sam?" He stepped onto the roof and closed the door behind him, "I'm surprised that you're…looking so…happy. Did something happen? Are you feeling alright?"

Again, to Tucker's absolute surprise, Sam gave him a light smile, "yeah, I'm feeling great actually." She turned her head back and stared at the mountains in the distance, "it's pretty, huh? It's even more beautiful at night," she sighed, "I remember this one time when Danny brought me out here and he took me flying through the sky. That was so terrifying and yet so exciting! The rush of the wind and the adrenaline in your body is almost addicting!"

Tucker raised an eyebrow, "O…kay." Of course, when Sam said they went flying, he didn't think she was being literal. "When was this?"

"Hm…about a year ago, I guess. Those days were so fun, even through the hardships; we managed to find time to act like regular teenagers. He took me out to dinner and the movies, he took me to prom; even though most of those ended in disaster, Danny was always there."

There was a _long _pause before Tucker finally blurted out his question, "Sam, what happened to Danny? I'm really sorry for being so curious, and it's probably none of my business, but I was just wondering." He bit his lip.

"How can I be mad at your curiosity?" Sam's voice seemed to shutter for a brief moment as her tongue began to tie knots on itself, she had been talking more today than she had in several months, it all became a burden on her vocal chords. Sam motioned for Tucker to come sit down, which he did, "Let's see…I met Danny not _that _long ago actually, his family had just moved in here and I was forced by my parents to walk with him to school in the morning…"

(A/N: I'm not going to bore you with Sam's story that you have already read! So, skipping ahead!)

"…I never learned all the details of Rafael's plan, all Danny told me was that Rafael was going to recreate Danny as an immortal being so that he himself could gain the same power. Danny saved me, but I always felt responsible. If I hadn't come into his life, would he have died? If I had been stronger, would he have felt the need to save me? There are so many questions that flooded through my head. I can't even begin to describe how angry I was, and how sad I became when I was home. I had wanted to die with him; I didn't want to live without him! I wasn't able to speak; I wasn't even able to make eye-contact. I only suffered through each day, hoping that it would be my last. But…now I know that Danny wouldn't want that, he would want me to by happy. So, the best I can do is stay happy for him.

"I haven't given up on him yet, and I still wait for the day that I can smile for him once more, whether that is in this life or the next. I love him." Sam turned to look at Tucker, "A-are you crying?"

Tucker quickly turned away, "no!" He wiped his eyes before turning to Sam again, "I…I…" He coughed into his sleeve, "…Uh…I don't know how to respond! That is so…amazing and freaky at the same time!"

"I know it must sound like a load of bull shit and everything, but I'm telling the truth." Sam chuckled, "I wouldn't lie about that."

"Well, I didn't say I didn't believe you. That's just a lot of information to take in at once." Tucker was trying to get all the paranormal craziness to make sense in his head; Danny was a half ghost? That itself was a weird question that didn't seem to have a logical answer. Even with Sam's detailed explanation, it was all so amazing! "Are you feeling alright?"

Sam nodded, "yeah, I'm alright. It's just strange…I haven't had any real friend in the past other than Danny, so…it feels really awesome to have another." Sam looked up, "Our ghost woman, that seems to be non-existent, told me some interesting things about promises. And I have a big one that I need to keep."

Tucker listened as Sam continued.

-3 Days Later-

"Hey, Sam!" Tucker caught up with Sam in the middle of the school's hallway, "did you finish that English essay?"

"Mm-hm!" Sam nodded, "Lancer will be amazed that I actually did it!"

_Oh my god, she's turned her attitude around a hundred and eighty degrees in such a short amount of time! _Tucker thought to himself, _It's hard to believe that this is the same girl! _"I did part of it; I got caught up with something else though!"

"Oh?"

"Yeeeah, it's nothing really. Just some video games and crap like that. Anyway! What're you doing after school? There's this new movie coming out that I really want to see! So, I figured I would ask if you wanted to go." When seeing Sam's eyes widen, Tucker quickly added, "Not as a date or anything!!! Just as friends, you know?"

"Sure, that sound's fun!"

A moment later, the bells ring echoed throughout the halls. Sam and Tucker both headed toward their class, each of them feeling good about the new day. However, when they walked into class, there was a new face that they didn't recognize.

A boy, about seventeen (like them), was standing up at the front talking to Lancer, he had a backpack slung over his shoulder, so Sam figured he was a student. But what caught her attention most was his outfit! The boy wore some of the most decorated material she had ever seen! With large black pants and a huge sweatshirt that seemed four times too large, not to mention all the chains that dragged off of them, Sam was surprised that the guy was able to stand! She couldn't see his face, but along his ear she saw a number of rings along his ear, he had short black hair with red tips that spiked up in an almost bed-head sort of way.

Sam and Tucker both found their spots and sat down, Sam didn't take her eyes off of the guy standing there. Perhaps he went a little over the top with dressing, but Sam liked that he was unique with his style of dressing.

"Okay, students, take your seats!" Lancer ordered all of them, "I want to introduce our new student to all of you! Yes, another one." He added because of the disbelief on most everyone's faces. "This is Keo Malcromen, he just transferred here from…which school did you go to?"

The boy named Keo shrugged, "home-schooled. Didn't really attend a school."

"Well, class, I expect you all to treat him with respect! And if he has questions, help him out, alright? Well, Mr. Malcromen, is there anything else you want to share?"

"Actually, Mr. Lancer, can you just call me Keo? Malcromen sounds _so _stupid!"

Lancer was surprised by the suggestion, but replied with, "alright, Mr. Keo. Anything else?"

"Where am I supposed to sit?"

Sam was curious as to why Keo seemed so calm, he didn't seem nervous at all. With both Danny and Tucker, they were a little frightened of being placed into a new classroom, but not this guy. Now that Sam got a good look at his face, she had to admit that if he was asleep, he could easily pass off as dead, his skin was bone-white pale, and he was quite thin as well, but then again, it might've been because of his huge clothes that he looked tiny. With even more jewelry visible now that he was facing them, Sam saw that this guy had an eyebrow piercing and snake bites. Keo had bright purple eyes, similar to Sam's, it wasn't everyday that someone saw eyes like those.

Keo ended up sitting in a seat on the far end of the classroom, and soon after he took his seat, Lancer began his lesson.

--

"Hey, Keo." Sam walked up to the new kid while everyone was getting up to leave, "Want to eat lunch with Tucker and I?"

"Depends." Keo replied, slouching lower into his chair as though it were a bean-bag-chair and he crossed his arms, "are you only asking because you feel sorry for me? I don't need your damn pity, thanks."

"Do you honestly think I would ask you to eat with us because I _pity _you? Grow up, this is high school. You may not have learned anything at your 'home-school' about a real school, so I'll tell you this: in high school, nobody is nice just because they pity someone! Everyone here is either rude, an idiot, a prep, a nerd or an outcast! That's how it works."

To Sam's surprise, Keo lurched forward and began laughing hysterically. "Alright, I'll eat with you. Just because that was such an entertaining speech!" He chuckled again before standing up, "hey, what's up?" he said to Tucker who waited for Sam to come, "I'm gonna be chillin' with you guys today, that alright with you?"

"S-sure."

Sam led all of them toward the large tree on the school grounds that she always sat under, it was a nice shady place, even though it wasn't warm out, Sam always sat here for lunch. Winter was just around the corner, so most people ate inside now, which Sam was alright with.

Tucker and Sam both sat down by the base of the tree, while Keo immediately jumped up the nearest branch and lay down on his stomach, letting his legs cross and his arms dangled on either side of the branch. "Cool hiding place."

"It's not a hiding place." Tucker grumbled.

"I know, that's why I said it." Keo replied, "Loosen up, man. By the way, what're your names?"

"I'm Sam, and this guy is Tucker." Sam pointed with her index finger to each of them, "so…where'd you move from?"

Keo shrugged again, "eh, around."

"Do you have any hobbies?"

"No."

"Interests?"

"No."

"Favorite bands?"

"No."

"Any favorite shows?"

"No."

"Any pets or friends?"

"No."

"Jeez!" Sam roared, "do you have _anything _to talk about!? You are terrible at making conversations!"

"Right back atcha, Sim."

"It's S_a_m. But all I'm trying to do is make a conversation, but you really suck at it!" She threw a small pebble up at him, "tell us _something _about you!"

"Well, what the hell do you want to know?" Keo slowly let his top half slide off the branch, but held on tightly with his legs so that he was basically vertical from the ground, dangling a few inches above Sam and Tucker. "As I mentioned before, this is my first time to an actual school! Well…I went to elementary school I guess…but throughout middle school I spent all that time at home."

"Why'd you decide to go to high school?"

"Because staying at home got hella boring."

"What're your hobbies?"

Keo raised an eyebrow, "didn't you already ask that?"

"Yes, but I didn't get a real answer, so I'm asking again."

"Fine, in my spare time, I fight."

_Long _pause. Tucker was the one to speak up this time, "Um…fighting, like boxing, or karate, or what?"

"Fighting other people in general."

"That sounds like a _great _hobby." Sam groaned, and for the rest of lunch, they basically sat in silence, unable to think of anything else to say to each other.

--

"Sam, why did you ask that guy to eat lunch with us?" Tucker asked Sam as they started to walk home. The streets were basically clear around this time of day, not many people got off their jobs for another few hours, and the students basically cleared the grounds within two minutes, so all in all, things were pretty quiet.

"Because, I wanted to see what kind of guy he was."

"That's not a very good reason."

"Well, he was sort of right that I felt bad for him, I can't see anyone else in that classroom giving him a chance. Most of the people in this school aren't willing to talk to new people. But one good thing is that I don't think Dash is going to bug Keo that much, Dash can tell that Keo isn't someone he wants to get involved with."

Tucker shuddered, "yeah…Dash…ugh; I really don't like that guy!"

"Obviously! I would think you were crazy if you didn't say that!"

"Hey, Sam, just a question, are you still angry with the Fentons?"

Sam paused for a moment and looked at Tucker, "what brought this up?"

"Nothing, I was just curious."

"Well, I wouldn't say that things are good and dandy, but for the moment, we're not fighting, which is good. In fact, tomorrow I'm going to be going over to their house, they wanted to see me about something-" Sam stopped dead in her tracks at the sound of a high pitched beep coming from her wrist.

"What is it?" Tucker quickly asked.

"Not good." Sam reached behind her and whipped out an ecto-gun, (Tucker couldn't help but question where she was keeping it) and dropped her backpack. "I borrowed this from the Fentons," Sam nodded toward the said watch, "it lets me know when there is a ghost around, as well as tells me different information on the ghost. Here," Sam tossed Tucker another gun she pulled from her backpack, "careful."

"Whoa! Sam, what the hell is going on? What are you doing?"

"What do you think!? We're going to fight it off!"

"Are you crazy!? Look at what happened last time with the ghost dog! Let's just get out of here!"

"And let other people get hurt!? Hell no!"

They were both cut off when a loud roar echoed through the area, they were by the football field near Casper High, which was located by a small forest of trees, a little ways away from the streets so that it wasn't disturbed easily by the cars. Sam looked over and saw a large creature crawl out from the trees; it looked much like a frilled-lizard, only about ten times its usual size! The lizard had blue scales and glowing red eyes, not to mention two large fangs that stuck dangerously from its mouth.

"Oh, damn." Sam commented, "Tucker, call the Fentons alright? We might need a little help with this." Sam's eyes narrowed, _this time! I won't be defeated by a ghost! I was distracted and pathetic with that ghost dog! This time…I'll beat him! _She began to run toward the lizard, leaving Tucker standing there, and was ready to bring this thing down! "Face me if you want, you scaled bastard! But just know, I'm not going to show mercy when it comes to evil ghosts!" _I have plenty of weapons, so I should be fine. But just in case, Tucker is going to call the Fentons, and they will definitely be able to take this guy down if I can't. _

"Sam! Hang on!" Tucker called after her, "you don't seriously think you can defeat that, do you?"

"Just watch me." Sam chuckled and continued her charge toward that animal.

_Why is she so determined? What is she trying to prove? _Tucker asked himself while pulling out his cell phone. _Is she trying to show others that she is strong? Or is she trying to show herself? Whatever the reason, she's going to get hurt! Damn it! _

The ghost lizard roared at the challenge and began a slither-sort-of walk toward Sam, all too ready to fight! When Sam was about fifty feet away, she brought the small gun up to eye-level and fired a few times as a way to show that she had a weapon with her. But to her surprised, the bullets hit the lizard and bounced right off without even a dent.

"Alright, this'll be a little harder than I thought." She reached down to the belt hidden under her skirt and pressed down on the buckle to activate it, a deep glow came around her body to protect her from ghosts, even though it wasn't much, it might help a little bit. Sam pulled the bottom of her skirt up a little bit to reveal a short, three inch long rod strapped to her thigh; she grabbed it and pulled it from her leg, extending it to full length, which was about five feet. It looked like an ordinary rod, but the green glow around it made it slightly more threatening.

The lizard continued to walk forward, Sam took serious action now that it was very close. She jumped forward and with a battle cry, she raised the rod up above her head and swung it toward the huge lizard. Claws about two inches long slashed toward her, but it was quite slow, making it much easier for Sam to dodge it.

"SAM!" Tucker called out, "don't touch its claws!! They're poisonous!" The teen held his phone up to his ear, speaking at a rapidly fast pace with the Fentons on the other end.

_What!? _Sam thought to herself, _damn it! This guy is just full of surprises. _She took another swing at the creature, and this time managed to hit it, cutting deep enough into its flesh to make it howl with pain. The only problem with this was that now it was more pissed off and attempted to trample Sam! She ducked into a roll to avoid getting killed, and coming up on one knee, Sam pulled out her gun once more and aimed quickly. _Bam! _She pulled the trigger on the ecto gun and immediately jumped back up to her feet.

Sam winced from the scream that came from the creature; the shot had hit the lizard in the eye, causing green ectoplasmic blood to ooze out. To her horror, the lizard lashed out and began to scramble around in place, and the tip of its tail whipped out of nowhere and slashed Sam across the shins. She couldn't help but fall to her knees and bite her lip in pain. Her eyes began to water, but she forced herself to ignore the agonizing throb and hold the gun up once more. _Stand still, ghost! _She aimed and fired again, this time at random.

The first shot was unsuccessful, but the second one hit something that made the ghost even angrier. The lizard finally got a hold of itself and stopped, still whimpering in pain, and turned to face Sam.

_Damn it, maybe I underestimated my abilities to fight this thing. _She thought to herself when it took a step forward. Sam wanted desperately to get up and run, but her bleeding shins were painfully telling her that she couldn't. It was almost annoying how one injury could bring a person down and unable to do much.

"Sam! Get out of there!" Tucker started running toward his hurt friend, "Get up!"

_Damn it! Damn it! _"Damn it!" With a hiss, Sam pulled herself to her feet and brought the rod up in time to block the talons coming down on her. _I'm so stupid! I still have a fractured and burnt hand, plus I'm still weak from the past few days! _She glanced down at the orb that rested peacefully around her neck, even though it had hurt her, the orb was still something that brought her strength somehow. Sam threw her weight forward and pushed the hand of the lizard back, letting some of the pressure come off of her shins.

A green beam came from behind Sam; she turned around and saw Tucker holding the gun up, "Sam! Come on! Get back!"

"Aim for its face! It's weaker there!"

"Get away first!"

"Just shoot!!" Sam demanded.

"Ugh, you both need to chill." A new voice came out from what seemed to be nowhere.

Sam and Tucker both turned and saw a new person running to them, literally running, and at an amazingly fast pace as well. The newcomer pulled out something from his pocket…a grappling hook? Sam couldn't tell exactly. But he swung it a few times around his head before releasing it toward the large ghost lizard, the hook managed to wrap around one of its spikes along its back, and the person used the hook to quickly pull himself up onto the lizard's back in about a second's time.

Mouths dropping wide open, both Sam and Tucker stared in amazement at the teenager who stood on top of this lizard with ease, he laughed with amusement at their faces. "Keo!?" They both cried.

"Didn't I mention that I fought as a hobby?" Keo smiled like an idiot toward them, "I'll handle this damn chameleon, you should probably see about getting something for your legs." Keo pointed out Sam's injury. Then, the lizard got furious at the person on its back and started thrashing around. "Hey, easy boy!" Keo barked, "the more you get pissed, the more I get pissed, okay? So shut the hell up and die!" He jokingly demanded.

Tucker ran up to Sam, and put one of her arms around his neck, supporting her weight with his as he took her off the field, "of all things I was expecting, I wasn't really expecting _that._"

A/N: I do realize that things seem to be moving very quickly and yes in a way that is on purpose. There are several things that I want to get to in this story! I've written so many scenes for future parts in this story that I'm really excited to post, but unfortunately I have to put some stuff between them. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it anyway! Please review!

PS: Keoki, sorry I shortened your name. ^_^ My friend Keoki wanted me to use his name, but Keoki sounded too long, so it's Keo. Also, it's pronounced "Kay-Oh" rather than 'Kee-oh.'


	14. Keep Moving

Error's Rival

Chapter 14: Keep Moving

_**A/N: Sorry I'm late! I wanted to give a quick recap of the last chapter since it took me so long to update. Basically, a huge ghost showed up, and then Sam went to fight it. **_**Then **_**to their surprise, Keo showed up. Keo is a new student at their school. Anyway, hope you enjoy! **_

"Didn't I mention that I fought as a hobby?" Keo smiled like an idiot toward them, "I'll handle this damn chameleon, you should probably see about getting something for your legs." Keo pointed out Sam's injury. Then, the lizard got furious at the person on its back and started thrashing around. "Hey, easy boy!" Keo barked, "The more you get pissed, the more I get pissed, okay? So shut the hell up and die!" He jokingly demanded.

Tucker ran up to Sam, and put one of her arms around his neck, supporting her weight with his as he took her off the field, "of all things I was expecting, I wasn't really expecting that."

"Whoa, you okay?" Tucker stopped walking to allow Sam a break. She was pressing nearly all her weight against him, her feet basically dragging underneath her. Tucker noticed that her eyes were moist, and sweat dripped down her face, but more importantly, she was trembling all over.

"It's c-cold." Sam muttered.

"Damn it! I _told _you that lizard was poisonous! The Fentons told me over the phone; they're on their way right now too, so just hang in there till then. Don't move around too much though, the poison will spread a lot quicker!" Tucker slowly helped Sam lay down on the grass, "Don't do that, idiot! You're not supposed to charge into a fight like that!!"

"I know…" Sam chuckled, "I was stupid."

"Damn straight!" Tucker barked, "Now just take it easy, alright? You're going to be alright."

Sam nodded, "did I just hallucinate Keo showing up?"

"I hope not, because I saw him too." Tucker looked up and over toward the ghost lizard and the new student, _this town just gets weirder and weirder. _

--

Keo checked to make sure Sam and Tucker were a good distance away before taking action. Still holding onto the rope of the grappling hook to keep himself steady, Keo raised his arm into the air; due to the oversized sweatshirt, the sleeve fell down his forearm all the way to his elbow, and rather than a bare arm, Keo had a metallic glove on his hand. The glove was much like a bikers glove, it left his fingers and knuckles bare; however, it extended all the way to his shoulder (but not all of it could be seen because of his sweatshirt) with layered sheets so that it was flexible enough to move his arm.

"You're goin' down, Lizzy." Keo quietly remarked just before he released the rope in his hand and brought that now empty hand up to his metal coated arm. From the looks of the metal, it seemed like it was pretty thin and not fancy, but Keo grabbed onto a small handle that stuck out at the wrist of the arm, and yanked it. A few layers of the arm popped open, and from within the openings, Keo drew out two small but deadly sharp daggers.

The lizard continued to thrash around, attempting to rid the being from its back, which Keo willingly did. He bent down about an inch to gain some momentum and launched off the lizard into a perfect back-flip. As gravity began to bring him down just beside the lizard, Keo threw his arms forward, driving the two knives into the lizard's flesh, managing to cut cleanly past the rock-hard scales while doing so. Keo continued to plummet downward, but at the same time, the lizard screamed with agony as the cut grew longer and longer because of the daggers tearing across its skin.

Keo brought his legs up just before he hit the ground and horizontally kicked off of the ghost, ripping the knives away from the scales and skin. He landed gracefully just a few feet away, holding up the now dripping with green blood daggers, ready to attack at any time. "I was sort of expecting a better fight out of you, guess I was wrong."

The ghost howled and reeled backward as one of Keo's daggers was launched directly into its already shot eye, the blade dug deep into the lizard's skull. Even if it was just barely noticeable, Keo couldn't help but cringe slightly when his attack hit. "Go back to the hell-hole that you came from!" He snarled and threw the other knife toward the beast; this one managed to dig into its collarbone, lodging deep into the bone.

Feeling completely rabid with anger, the ghost lizard charged at Keo. "If you keep acting on instinct, you're going to get the shit beat out of you! Kind of like what's happening right now." Keo yanked on the handle on his arm's metal cover once again, only this time, rather than just tugging on the handle, Keo pulled longer, and the handle extended outward for a few inches before a clicking sound was heard. The metal plates on his arm with weapons stored inside suddenly detached from his body and morphed into a two foot long ecto gun. Even though the weapon had to be detached from his arm to create the gun, it still rested on the _top_ of his arm and was attached to him with a bar that wrapped around his elbow and shoulder.

Keo raised his weapon equipped limb up toward the oncoming ghost.

--

"Sam! Sam! Hey, do _not _pass out again! You do realize that I've seen you passed out more that I've seen you awake!? Come on, Sam!" He very gently slapped her face with his hand in an attempt to keep her from falling asleep, "stay awake!"

"Lizard?" Sam groaned.

"Yeah, what about it?" When Sam didn't answer, Tucker continued, "hey, Sam! Keep talking! Talk about something!"

"What's happening?"

"Um…" Tucker looked up and over at Keo, "Keo is kicking the crap out of that ghost, he's amazing!"

"Oh…" Sam moaned.

"Sam, I swear, if you fall asleep, I will be _so _mad! Just hang on!" He looked down at her legs, the cut on them was swelling and turning a sickly green and purple colour. "Why do you always have to get hurt!?" When Sam failed to reply, Tucker looked up and around in search of a large RV, "where are they!?" He turned his attention back to Sam when he heard her chuckle.

"Heheh…I'm not going to die yet, don't worry." Her eyes remained closed, but she still spoke.

"_What the hell happened!!!?_" A roar echoed in Sam and Tucker's ears.

"Ghost chick!?" Tucker cried, "where were you!?"

The female ghost ignored the annoying way he referred to her as a 'chick' again and continued, "I come back here and I find you like _this_!? I can never leave you alone, can I? Sam, what were you thinking!?"

Sam weakly shrugged, "Everything's alright though."

"And who might I ask is _this_."

Even though neither Sam nor Tucker could see the mysterious ghost woman, they knew immediately that she was talking about Keo.

"New kid named Keo." Tucker replied, while looking over toward the fighting teen at the same time, "damn, I thought he was a little freaky at first, but wow. He kicks ass…"

"Hmmm…"

Tucker raised an eyebrow, "what's _hmmm_ for?"

"Oh, it's nothing." She paused for a moment. "Tucker, wrap Sam's legs up in your sweater, you need to stop the bleeding. I'll go see if I can help out somehow."

--

Keo used the back of his left, un-weapon hand, to wipe away a drop of blood coming from his lip. "Damn it, I misjudged that attack big time." He chuckled, "don't be looking so proud," he spoke to the lizard that stood several yards away, pawing at the ground like a rhino about to charge. "That was the first, and _last _injury you will manage to cause." Keo looked down at the small graze on his chest that came to be when the lizard was charging, Keo had misread the attack and his defense was weak to stop the lizard for getting him a little.

His large gun on his arm was still undamaged. Keo lifted his arm once more, about to fire but paused; and while smirking he quietly spoke, "you going to stand there and watch all day?"

"Well, well, well; I'm impressed that you noticed me." The female ghost replied.

"You still show up on my tech and scanners, I have a device in my pocket that vibrates when a new visitor arrives, such as yourself." Keo looked over and saw no one, "so…do you enjoy hiding from others?" Keo grinned with his eyes still narrowed, and he quickly turned his attention back to the ghost lizard, it seemed to be waiting for Keo to make the first move.

"Not particularly. Do you need any help?"

"Hell no. I can handle this on my own, woman."

"_Woman_?" She barked, "I can put up with being called a 'chick,' but I disliked how you said 'woman'."

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but that's what you are, you're going to have to accept that fact if you ever want to find peace." Keo ranted in an entertained voice, then without waiting for a response from her, he continued, "wait here and watch me beat the shit out of this alligator." He broke into a full out sprint toward his opponent.

"Here goes!" Keo let out a roaring battle cry, and the lizard practically mimicked it, preparing itself for the attack by throwing all of its weight onto its front limbs, ready to attack! Keo came closer and closer by the millisecond, and soon enough, the teen and the ghost could see their own reflection in the other's eyes. Keo sprung off the ground.

The lizard brought its hind legs around and whipped its tail at Keo with deadly speed. In midair, Keo twisted his body around and away from the tail; he could feel the tail fly past him, missing him by less than an inch. Keo grinned wildly with triumph, "I win." In a short second, the teen brought his left arm over to his right and steadied the gun attached to his body.

The shot was fired. All the sound within a quarter mile was just about absorbed by the energy of the blast. A magnificent red and orange beam of light came from the opening of the gun, Keo had to tightly close his eyes so that he wasn't blinded by the beam, and as the energy shot out, Keo was thrown _back_. A huge pulse of hot energy swept past everyone nearby, but the only one that was really damaged was the one being hit by the main attack.

Keo slammed down into the ground, he grunted from the impact, but what hurt more was his right arm that was severely dislocated. As the shot was fired and his body was tossed the opposite direction, his arm had shot upward right after the blast from the gun, nearly taking his arm off from the shoulder! "Damn it!" He snarled, and sat up on the field, a large amount of dirt was in the air now, making it difficult to see anyone. Keo knew that it was stupid to assume the enemy was dead unless he saw it for himself. He bit his lip and with his good arm, he grabbed the motionless weapon-arm, and with an audible twist and pop, he forced his arm back into place.

He quickly got to his feet, and with his gun loaded once again, he began to walk over to where he had shot the lizard. Keo came within five yards from where the lizard was…or what remained of it. It was just a pile of _something_ now. At this point, the creature wouldn't be able to be identified as a lizard in the mess of blood and flesh.

Tucker stared wide-eyed at his classmate, and watched as Keo suddenly did a fist punch into the air with his left arm and triumphantly cried, "Hell yeah!!" He even did a little jump off the ground at the same time.

"Who is that guy?" Tucker said out loud, and turned his head to see the Fentons jogging toward him, his face lit up with relief and happiness.

--

"Danny? Hey, Danny, wake up!"

With a low groan, the teenager opened his eyelids; crust filled the corners, making it difficult to open them. The taste of dirt and blood still lingered in his mouth, and he could feel the insects making a nest out of his disgustingly dirty hair. He was face down underneath a small bush with small dark green leaves, his body hurt more than it did yesterday. His vision remained faint and blurry, his breathing was short and slow, and his whole body pulsed painfully with each heartbeat. _What do you want, 'aunt'? _Danny took a minute to even think of responding, but he eventually did.

"I was just checking to see if you're still alive."

_Ha…ha. _Danny closed his eyes again. _That's not funny, you know. _

"I didn't mean for it to be funny, I was being serious."

_That's still not very comforting. _

"Please, Danny. Let me come help you, I can bring you home right now! It won't take long for me to get there!"

_No. _

"Care to explain why?" His aunt fiercely demanded.

_Sam…I need you to watch Sam. _

"She'll be fine without me for a short while."

_No she won't. I need you to watch her now more than ever. _He shuttered as he remembered the visit he received from another 'Messenger' the other night. Of course, the Messengers were always vague about everything and were basically the ones that make people paranoid. Plus, they never actually helped, they only delivered messages, hence their name.

Danny's aunt exhaled deeply, "alright, Danny. I trust you to choose the right thing; I'll stay here. Tell me where you are, at least."

_To tell you the truth…I have no idea where I am. I'm working on figuring that out. _

"If you don't get here sometime soon, I will come over there and drag you back here, you understand? I will bring Sam with me so that she won't be alone! Alright?"

"…No…" Danny replied out loud with a raspy and pained voice. _I don't want here anywhere near here. I don't want her anywhere near this damn place ever again! Alright!? _

"I understand, Danny." His aunt quietly spoke, "in case you were wondering, Sam has been doing a bit better recently."

"Really?" Danny's tone lifted to one of almost excitement, _she's doing alright?_ He sighed, _that's good. I'm glad. _He felt the corners of his lips twitch faintly in an attempted smile, but it didn't last long, _thank you again, for watching Sam._

"No problem, Danny. Take care of yourself." The link between their minds was turned off, and Danny was alone again.

He wasn't sure where Venom had gone off to, he had left some time the other day, not that Danny was complaining; he _hated _having that guy around. (But what Danny didn't notice was the dark figure standing not too far away, watching his every move.)

Danny looked up into the sky, the sun was staring to come up; he breathed in deeply, _alright. Come on. I can do this. _He quietly encouraged himself, and dragged himself out from under the bush, and started using his trembling limbs to slowly move across the ground once more. He didn't know where he was going, but the only thing he could do was keep moving.

--

"Hey, is she going to be alright?" Keo stood beside Tucker; slowly using his hands to take apart the gun attached to his arm and reset it as an arm plate like it started out as. He watched as a large man wearing an orange jumpsuit and a woman wearing a blue jumpsuit patched Sam's legs up.

"I hope so." Tucker attempted to take a short step away from Keo unnoticed.

"I don't bite, you know." Keo smirked.

"Dude, I just saw you take down a lizard the size of a freaking bus, I think I have a right to be a little afraid! How the hell did you learn all of that! Seriously! That was amazing!"

Keo shrugged, "not sure. I've been fighting for as long as I can remember, though."

"That's just freaky."

It was silent once again, Keo and Tucker just stood and watched for several minutes, and then Maddie looked up to both of them.

"Are you both alright?" She asked them.

"Yeah." Both of them spoke at the same time.

Tucker turned to Keo, "Dude, you're bleeding, I don't think you're alright."

"I'm fine." He waved Tucker off in assurance, "seriously."

"For some reason, I don't believe you."

"I didn't say that you had to."

Maddie was a little too far away to notice the blood on Keo's clothes, so she had taken their responses as the truth and continued to fix Sam's wound. They had taken the poison out of her blood and were now just stitching up the cut.

"Keo?" Tucker noticed that he was looking off into the distant, "something wrong?"

"My sensors are picking up a new ghost signature. It's too faint to let me know where it's coming from though." He shrugged, "ah well, it's probably nothing."

Tucker exhaled. _Is it ever nothing? _

--

Keo sighed and walked into his home, which was a small apartment that smelled awfully of smoke. But it was the only thing they could afford. "I'm home!" He called out, throwing off his large sweatshirt and examining the damage on the metal on his arm. It was definitely beat up pretty well, that was for sure, but nothing too serious.

"Brother?" A girl poked her head around the corner toward him, "is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me, don't worry." He smiled, but knew that she couldn't see it.

The girl slowly came around the corner, her shoulders slumped down and her back arched awkwardly, her hair was brown and came down below her waist, it wasn't very well cared for and was a little greasy from the lack of washing it, but the girl was still innocent looking and sweet. "Brother, where were you?" She began to walk toward him.

Keo quickly came up to her and wrapped his arms around her in a comforting embrace, "Sorry, I had to take care of some things after school."

Tears began to stream down the girl's delicate face, "I was worried."

"It's alright, Aunally, it'll be alright. You'll be safe here. I won't let anyone hurt you." Keo gently picked up his sister and walked her to her bed, "let's sleep now, okay?"

Aunally nodded, her eyes were closed and had yet to open once since Keo came home. He placed her under the blankets of her bed, but remained standing beside her for a minute, "Aunally, are you feeling alright? Does anything hurt? Do you need your medicine yet?"

The girl shook her head, "no, I'm alright for now. Can you tell me about your day?" When Keo sat down on the edge of her bed, Aunally slowly opened her eyes to look at her brother; he was very vague in her eyes and a blurred figure. From Keo's point of view though, he looked at her eyes with amazement, they didn't look damaged at all but were beyond repair. The girl had _yellow _eyes that resembled a cat's.

"Well, I met two new people today." Keo couldn't help but smile when his sister grinned with happiness.

"Will you bring them over someday? I want to meet them."

Keo laughed, "I'm not sure. I'll let you know, though."

"Okay." Aunally smiled, and she then fell asleep almost instantaneously.

Keo got up and exhaled deeply, pulling his arm up to examine it again, he began to take apart the metal and set it down on their dining table. His eyes narrowed into an almost angry glare while he worked, "I'll have to make some adjustments to these. Damn." But before he got to work on adjustments, Keo walked back over to his sister and pulled out a small syringe and gently inserted it into her arm.

It was necessary to keep her from being in pain; also it helped her from waking up in the middle of the night. Keo pulled the blanket on Aunally back and looked over her body at the new wounds on her skin, they had already healed over, but Keo bandaged them all the same as well as cleaned them. He hated to see such a sweet girl in pain, constantly attacking herself without realizing it, there was nothing he could do to stop her…

"I'm sorry there isn't more I can do." Keo sighed and after making sure she was all better (for now) he continued fixing the metal plates for his arm, glancing at the clock every few hours and making sure he was done before he had to leave for school. Once it got to 6:00, Keo stood up and stretched before making himself some toast and woke up Aunally, giving her a nice breakfast of eggs, toast and a mango.

"Damn, I have to go to school. I'll be back later, Aunally, I promise." He kissed his sister on her forehead with a goodbye and left the apartment.

--

"Tucker, I'm seriously okay." Sam assured him; she got up from the Fenton's couch, no longer feeling pain in her legs, "my legs don't even hurt anymore."

The teen growled at Sam, "that doesn't change the fact that you're still hurt!" He crossed his arms in anger, wanting to yell at her for attacking that lizard by herself and getting hurt! "You need to check with me before you go try to commit suicide, alright!?"

"Tucker! I wasn't trying to commit suicide!" Sam barked.

"Well you might as well have been! What you did was stupid!" He couldn't help but blurt out his thoughts. "Sorry…but I just don't get it, Sam. I don't get what you're trying to accomplish." His tone lowered to an almost whisper, "what were you trying to prove?"

"Nothing. I'm not trying to prove anything, Tucker."

"Somehow, I don't believe you. You're so determined to win, why?"

Sam took a moment before responding, "Because…I don't want to lose _again_." She decided that their conversation wasn't really getting anywhere, so she walked into the kitchen to see Maddie.

Tucker was left alone to his own thoughts. _She doesn't want to lose again, huh? Something seems fishy. _

"I can't agree more, Tucker."

Tucker looked up, _So, you're here too, Ghost Chick? _

"Yes, I am. And even though this goes against so many of my standards, I have to tell you something. I need you to keep a very close eye on Sam, and keep her from doing anything stupid!"

_Can you be a bit more specific? _

"Samantha is planning on going to the S.E.H.S Organization again, or as she refers to it as: Hell's Dungeon."

_What!? Why? _

"Remember, she told you about that promise she made to the ghosts trapped there, she wants to free them. Samantha has been planning this for a little while now, and I can't allow her to do this so recklessly!"

_I thought you were the one that told her to keep her promises. _

"I did. And I'm not saying she shouldn't! But now isn't the time, she isn't ready."

_Alright. Thanks for telling me. Anything else? _

"No, that's about it. Oh, wait, there is something I need to tell you." Tucker listened. "That ghost dog that you and Sam made contact with a little while ago…he's in Amity Park again. And he hasn't exactly come for a friendly chat. I spoke with him a little while ago, and I think that he is being controlled part of the time. At this time, I can't contact him, he keeps shutting me out. Right now…he's not himself. I'm telling you this because I want you to stay away from him until he regains control of his mind."

Tucker nodded, _Understood. _

**A/N: Okay, so how was this chapter? Any good? Please tell me any comments or concerns you have! Whether is be about the story itself or a character in the story! Oh, and I wanted to ask your opinion on Keo and Aunally. (And yes, Aunally is another one of my friends, I use their names a lot for characters I make.) Is the story too weird? Confusing? Please let me know! **

**I'll try to update soon! **


	15. I’ll Be There For You

Error's Rival

Chapter 15: I'll Be There For You

"Sam, how're you feeling?" Maddie asked Sam while washing some dishes, she had some dinner cooking in the oven at the moment; the smell was very nice and made the kitchen seem less tense somehow.

"I'm feeling a lot better, actually," Sam managed a smile, "thanks." It was still hard for her to act like nothing was happening between them, the last time they had actually had a conversation was when they were arguing, and Maddie was telling Sam what Danny's last words to them had been. Somewhere in those words, Sam was hit to the core with emotion, she hated to be wrong, but at the same time she was relieved. The Fentons were his family, they saved him and raised him, Sam couldn't have asked for more.

"Are you hungry?"

Sam smiled, "starving."

Maddie smiled back, "dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes; you're welcome to join us. Tucker already agreed to stay for dinner."

"Sure, but let me run to my house for a minute, okay? I haven't seen my parents all day, they're probably worried." Sam's leg injuries were easily hidden underneath her leggings, and she was truthfully not in pain at the moment. She knew for a fact that her parents were worried, she was almost never home anymore, and when she was she was always in her room. _Might as well let them know I still exist. _

Sam left the Fenton's home and walked over to her own house, which took about twenty seconds at the most. The moment she walked in the door she was greeted by her maid, Celeste. A nice woman that Sam had come to like, Celeste never pushed for information or ratted Sam out if she was gone. "Hey, Celeste." Sam gave a small wave.

"Oh, Miss Manson!" Celeste smiled, "it's about time you were home."

"Yeah, I've been a little busy lately."

"How're you feeling? Is everything alright?"

_Why does everyone ask me that question!? _"Yeah, I'm great! Are mom and dad home?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Miss Manson, but they went on a business trip. I believe that they left you a note in the kitchen. Don't worry they should be home by the weekend though. I'm truly sorry, I forgot to mention this."

"It's fine, Celeste. Their job is often hectic and demanding, I understand." Sam paused, "Well, I just wanted to stop by and say 'hi', and I've been invited over to dinner with the Fenton's next door. Is that alright?"

"You don't need to ask, Miss Manson." Celeste gave a heartwarming smile as Sam turned and left.

Dinner with the Fentons wasn't as freaky as Sam thought it would be, they seemed very happy and got along with each other just as well as they always did. Jack loved to talk with everyone, Maddie smiled the entire time, and Jazz often rolled her eyes at the ridiculousness going on. Sam didn't talk much, but she enjoyed listening to their conversations. The only thing that could've made that dinner better was to have Danny sitting beside her.

--

Celeste waved goodbye to Sam while cleaning the (already spotless) living room, and Sam gave a quick smile back to her before leaving her home and began walking to school. She winced every few steps from the cut on her legs, even with the pain medicine that Maddie gave her, it still hurt. Sam was considering taking the day off so that she didn't overwork her leg, not to mention she felt like a fool the other day for acting so recklessly that she wanted to hide in shame…but then she remembered that she had a few questions to ask Keo!

The first one would probably be something like: _What the hell was that!? _Or maybe even: _What the hell are you!? _Those were some amazing moves Keo had, Sam remembered vaguely how well he had managed to bring that ghost down, and it made her extremely curious about his history. When Sam passed the football field, she saw the football players and coaches gathered around, staring at their ripped up grass field with horror as though it were the end of the world. She finally made it to the actual school, but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw none other than Keo standing by the door.

Well, not quite standing, he was more propped up against the wall with his legs and arms crossed, and a grin was spattered across his face. Sam noticed that Keo was wearing the exact same outfit as the previous day, but didn't give it much thought, or even comment that he had dirt from the fight still on his clothes. "What are you smiling about!?" Sam instinctively barked.

"You're face, it's seriously hilarious!" Keo laughed, "Thinking about something? You were staring at nothing this whole time, it looked kinda funny!"

"Yeah, what's it to you?" Sam immediately bit her lip, feeling guilty that she was speaking so harshly to him, he hadn't done anything wrong. "Never mind." She quickly muttered and walked past him into the school.

"Are you curious about what happened yesterday? Or do you not remember anything." Keo walked beside her, his arms still folded in front of him.

"I remember. And yeah, I'm curious, that's pretty human of me to wonder where the hell you learned to fight like that."

"Lotsa practice, that's about it. You're still new to fighting, huh? And before you say anything, _yes_ it was that obvious that you are new to it. No offense, you kinda sucked out there."

"Is that supposed to boost my confidence!?" Sam snapped, "Nobody asked you!" Sam let out a cry of pain when her wound reopened on her leg, she could feel the warm blood beginning to trickle down her shin. Sam fell to all fours, dropping her backpack beside her and wrapping her hands around the leggings that covered her wounds, "Damn it."

"Oh, whoa! You okay!?" Keo dropped down beside her, his chains clanging on the tile floor as he did so. When Sam tried to get up again, he grabbed her arm, "hey, don't move so much! Take it easy!" He calmly demanded, "Does it hurt badly? Did you reopen your stitches?"

Sam nodded shortly, hating to admit that she was hurt.

"Will you go to the nurse?" When Sam shook her head, Keo sighed, "wow, you're really stubborn. Alright, come on!" Keo suddenly scooped Sam up into his arms, making Sam shriek in shock.

"What the hell are you doing!?"

"I'm not gonna let you walk with a hurt leg, idiot!" Keo smiled, "so I'll be taking you to class."

Sam wanted to kill him right then! The strange stares that others gave them in the hallways were enough to make Sam turn red with embarrassment. _What is he trying to do!? Seriously! _"If I go to the nurse, will you let me walk on my own?"

At this, Keo laughed with victory, "sure thing, I was headed there anyway."

"You're so mean."

--

"Oh my goodness!" The nurse exclaimed while carefully taking off the wrapping from Sam's leg.

"I know, right!?" Keo matched her energy quite well, "next time, we'll definitely be more careful when handling kitchen knives." His tone of voice was almost believable to Sam; it actually impressed her that he managed to do that. "Thank you so much," Keo thanked the nurse using the same worried tone he had used previously.

"Well, it doesn't look like it severely opened up, only a slight tear in the stitching, the best I can do right now is wrap it up, you'll need to go see a doctor if it rips again, but you'll be fine for now. Can I get you any medicine?"

Sam shook her head, "oh no, I'll be alright." She still had a stash of the medicine Maddie had given her. The nurse wrapped up Sam's leg with fresh bandages, and walked them out of her office with a warm goodbye.

"Hey, Sam!" Tucker jogged up to her and Keo holding a bag in his hands, "I found your backpack over by the entrance." Tucker gave nervous glances toward Keo as he stood there, and even stayed about three feet away from him.

Sam glared at Keo, "You didn't pick up my backpack?"

"Well, I sorta had my hands full at the time!"

Sam ignored him and took the backpack from Tucker, "we should head to class. Thanks for getting my bag, Tucker."

--

The entire class period, Sam was thinking about what had happened last night. A Messenger had come to her, the ones that warn people of things that will happen, or rather, _could _happen. Their messages were never something to look forward to, but this one had definitely caught Sam's attention. The voice spoke to her very clearly and had said, "The outcome will be no different than the beginning." Just plain and simple as that; Sam had demanded to know what the Messenger was talking about, but of course, they never say anything helpful.

_What's the beginning? _She asked herself, _the beginning of my life? Or the beginning of last year? What are they talking about!? _She snarled and tried to focus on something else, immediately her mind went over to Keo. She hardly remembered it, but seriously, he fought so well it was hard for Sam to imagine that he had done it. Sam glanced at the scarred burn marks on her palms, and then looked down at the orb hanging around her neck. _Danny, things have been getting so weird around here. I honestly don't know what to do. How were you always able to do it? You somehow managed to keep moving forward no matter what…and I can't seem to do that. _

--

"Danny, you have to keep moving!"

Eyes fluttering uncontrollably, the teen was currently face-down in a shallow puddle of murky water, trying desperately to move his arms. _I can't do it anymore…_He felt a single tear slide down his face, _it's too much, I'm sorry. _He just wanted to sleep; he wanted this to be over.

"No! You can't give up! Sam is waiting for you!" The ghost-woman's voice echoed in his head, giving him a pounding headache by doing so, "are you really going to give up on her!?"

_What's the point anyway? You heard the deal that I made with the Gatekeeper! You know what'll happen if I go back to Sam! _

"The deal is already done, so don't let it go to waste! You got your life back! Did you expect the deal to be nice and easy!? There will always be consequences! If you can't handle that fact, then why the hell were you so desperate before? What changed, Danny!?"

_I don't know…_He exhaled. _I don't know…_

"You're close now Danny, you've made it this far. Don't let us down now." She paused before continuing, "This is sort of against the rules, but I'll help you get back if you're willing to go all the way and not give up."

At this, Danny raised his head slightly, _what do you mean, help me? _

"First promise me that you will make it back home! Promise that you'll fight!"

Even in this weakened state, Danny nodded his head, _I promise. _

--

"Tucker, have you seen Keo?"

Tucker raised an eyebrow, "why?" The two of them were sitting on the steps in front of the school eating their lunches, and Sam was surprised when Keo hadn't shown up.

"Just because… I'm curious where he is."

Shrugging, Tucker took a bite of his ham sandwich, "I saw him head over to the gym after the bell rang. I don't know what he's doing though…hey where're you going?"

"I'll be back in a minute." Sam got up and walked into the school, going down the hallway to the other side of the school where the gym was located. As she got closer, she could hear punches on something soft. Slowly, Sam peeked inside.

The gym was mostly used by football players, it had tons of work out machines and weights to lift, and in the corner of the room Sam saw a punching bag being brutally attacked by Keo.

Keo had taken his huge sweater off, and now only wore a black tank-top. It made his legs look huge because his pants were so big compared to his actual size, and without the sweater on, she could see that a belt held up his amazingly giant pants that had chains coming off of them. Even from the distance, Sam could see that his arms were sculpted with thick muscles. She stood there for at least a minute, watching as Keo kicked and punched the bag repeatedly.

"You might as well come in rather than stand there." Keo spoke without even turning to look at Sam.

"H-how did you know I was here?" Sam walked in and let the door close behind her.

This time, Keo stopped killing the poor bag and turned to face Sam, holding up a small device that reminded her somewhat of an mp3 player. "This thing vibrates whenever ectoplasm is detected, no matter how small it is." He pointed to her, "that orb around your neck sets it off if you get close enough. So, there were only two options, one: it was you or two: someone else in this school happens to have ectoplasm clinging to them."

"Fine." Sam rolled her eyes, "so, what're you doing here?"

"Right now? I'm beatin' the shit outta this thing." The jerked his thumb toward the punching bag, "if I don't keep working out, I'll get sloppy when I fight." He looked down at Sam's legs, "are your legs doing alright?"

Sam nodded, they honestly felt alright, they hurt a bit when she walked, but they seemed to be healing faster than she expected them to. Sam looked at the object next to his sweater, and saw a hollow shell of a metal arm; it was the thing that Keo had been wearing the other day when he fought that lizard ghost. "Um…what is that thing anyway?"

"What's it look like?" Keo smirked, "it's a friggin weapon, and also it's like the remote for all my other weapons."

"What other weapons?"

At this, Keo pointed down to his huge pants, "you don't think these chains are just for show; do you?" He grabbed onto one of the metal chains that came out of his pocket and pulled on it till a large gun the length of a shoe was pulled out, the end of it was hooked onto the chain. "See?"

Sam looked around, "what the hell are you thinking!?" She hissed, "Put that away! What if someone sees you!?"

Keo shrugged. He put the gun away, "now it's my turn to ask you something. What're you doin' here?"

"I was looking for you. I was wondering why you didn't come to lunch."

There was a long pause, Sam thought for a moment that Keo hadn't heard her, but she realized that he was just ignoring the question. "…Why do you care?" Keo finally asked. "What did I do to make you think that you need to look out for me? I didn't come here to make friends, and I didn't come here to get a freakin' education…"

"Then why _are _you here?"

Avoiding eye-contact, Keo replied, "Medical reasons….my sister." Keo let his head come down, and continued speaking only much quieter, "It's sort of my responsibility to protect her, ya know? So…we came here for some medical treatment. I have to keep her safe."

The way he spoke and the determination in his voice made Sam's eyes widen a bit. "You know, you remind me of someone…" She bit her lip, realizing what she had just said.

Neither of them spoke for a while, so Sam left the gym without another word and went back to where she had left Tucker.

"Took you long enough!" Tucker moaned, "I was getting so bored out here! So, where's Keo?"

"He's in the weight room working out. It doesn't look like he'll be coming out here."

"Ah, well it doesn't matter since lunch is almost over and everything." Tucker sighed, "Why do school days seem so freaking slow?" He moaned, while Sam stared into the sky.

--

Danny could feel the tips of his fingers tingle, his blood began to pump through his heart faster than it had in a long time, and the muscles seemed to explode with a new strength. A gasp escaped from his lips as the overwhelming feeling spread throughout his body. "W-what did you do?" He breathlessly asked, his vocal chords feeling tight and painful, but they worked.

"I gave you some of my energy, it's not much, but it should get you going again, I don't know for how long though." The ghost woman replied.

"I don't know what to say…" A small smile crept up to Danny's face.

"Don't thank me yet. I want to hear it from you after you've returned to Amity Park. Alright? I'll be waiting there for you. Good luck, Danny, I'll come check up on you in a bit." Their connection broke and Danny could now only hear his own thoughts. He brought his arms to either side of him and slowly but surely lifted his chest up so that he was no longer tasting mud water.

Danny remembered back in Hell's Dungeon when he and Sam were fighting to escape, Venom had done something similar to what _she _had just done. They had both transferred energy somehow; Danny was still unsure how they managed to do that.

Getting up onto two feet, Danny grabbed a nearby tree and used both arms to keep himself upright. He was definitely not ready to run a mile, or even jog one, but Danny felt like it was such an accomplishment to just be standing. _Sam, I'm sorry for wanting to give up. I'm helpless sometimes…but I'm coming. I'll be there for you, like I promised. _

About thirty feet away from the teen, Venom stood on a tree branch at least twenty feet above the ground, crouched down like a cat and observing the scene before him. A wide grin spread across his face.

--

Flashback

"Aunally!? Aunally! Where'd you go!?" Keo spun around several times, breathing heavy with fear in search of his sister. Snow was lightly covering the streets, the sidewalk that he stood on was a little slippery with ice and he didn't see anything or anyone except the tall buildings around him. He was afraid that this would happen; this place was a dangerous town to pass through. "Aunally!!" White clouds violently flew out of his mouth as he screamed her name.

Keo shivered from the cold biting at his exposed flesh on his arms, he had no coat to wear because he couldn't afford it. He and Aunally didn't have much money, and the money that they _did _have was used to buy necessary food. _Aunally! Please answer! _Keo bit his lip, not knowing what to do. He finally started to run back and forth, looking around all the corners they had just gone by and looking into all the stores along the way.

His heart raced in fear, thinking of a car accidentally hitting Aunally, she wouldn't be able to see it coming! Her eyes were terrible; she was basically blind; so where could she possibly go? _When did we separate!? I just let go of her hand for a moment and then she was gone! _"Aunally!"

Keo heard some snickering down one of the alleys. Slowly and quietly, Keo walked up to where he heard the noise and gasped when he saw three guys standing around his sister. They were not quite old enough to be called men, but Keo could tell right away that they were drunk. Fury burned inside of Keo like a scorching fire. They hadn't done anything to Aunally, but he wasn't going to give them a chance to!

"Hey, are you lost, little girl?" One of the men asked.

Aunally quickly shook her head 'no'. Her eyes were clamped shut, and she held her arms around herself in fear. _Brother! Where are you!? _She had heard him calling her name, but she was too scared to say anything, she wanted to reply, but her voice seemed to be clogged up in her throat. Aunally was just about ready to attempt to defend herself, but she suddenly heard a cry of pain.

Keo could see that Aunally was tensing up; ready to fight back, when he jumped up into the air well above the guy's heads and came down on top of one, swinging his leg around and knocking the guy out in an instant! Snarling like a rabid dog, Keo got between his sister and the two remaining guys.

"Whoa, little guy, we weren't doin' anything." One of them put his hands up in front of him.

Keo knew his moves were sluggish due to the alcohol in his body, which gave him the advantage. "I don't care if you _did _anything, but I don't appreciate _anyone _getting close to her!" He let out a battle cry before dropping down to the ground and throwing his legs underneath the men, knocking them down to their butts. "If you _had _touched her, I would make sure you guys died a painful death! But since you didn't-" Keo stepped between them, his hands going to opposite sides of him and grabbing them by their hair (since their heads were about his height now). "I'll let you live." Keo came to one knee and with great force he shoved their heads down onto the cement, the backs of their skulls making a loud noise from impact.

He had avoided breaking their skulls, but they would both have a really nasty headache when they woke up. Keo was breathing heavy with anger, "_nobody _hurts my sister!" He fought to hold back tears, afraid of what would have happened if he hadn't come at all. Aunally was the closest person he had to him, he was afraid to lose her like he had everyone else. "Are you okay?" Keo stood up and turned to face Aunally.

Aunally hadn't seen what happened, but she could definitely hear some of the sounds. She slowly nodded, and when she could feel his presence only a foot from her, she threw herself forward and wrapped her arms around him, "Brother! I was so scared!" She sobbed into his shirt.

"I'm sorry." Keo embraced her in return, "I'm sorry…" He was sorry for so many things, he was sorry that she had to experience such fear, he was sorry that they had to live like this, he was sorry that she was so hurt mentally, he was sorry that she had to experience such pain all the time and he could do nothing about it. He couldn't do anything…

--

Still in Flashback

Keo opened his eyes when he heard something in the distance. It was nearly pitch back, but he could still see. Him and Aunally were laying down on a stack of newspapers and sand inside of a warehouse they had found along the way, Aunally was still sound asleep and Keo had his body wrapped around her to keep her warm from the cold.

Now alert, Keo raised his head just a bit to look around and make sure no one was there. He couldn't recall _what _had awoken him, but something had spiked his senses. He wanted to go take a look around, but he didn't want to wake up Aunally.

Deciding that it was better to take a chance, Keo _very _slowly and quietly worked his way up without waking up Aunally and began to walk around the warehouse, checking every single space to make sure it was clear. _Maybe it was just the wind. _He shrugged and went back to Aunally, gasping in horror when he saw blood running down her arm. "Damn it!" He whispered.

Aunally's right hand was clutching her left forearm with such strength that she had dug her nails into her own skin, but her sleep was still not disturbed. Keo pulled her arm away from her other to stop her from hurting herself, and then he ripped off a chunk of his shirt to wrap around her new wound. No matter what he said or did, he couldn't stop her from physically hurting herself; she did it without realizing it all the time.

_I can protect her from the dangers in the world, I can protect her from the people that come by, and I can protect her from the things that get thrown our way, but I can't ever protect her from herself._

**A/N: Okay, I have to ask you all what you think the deal was that Danny made! I'm leaving a few hints throughout this story; hopefully they're not going unnoticed! ^_^ Also, tell me what you think of Keo, I'm trying my best to introduce his character while also keeping the story going.**


	16. Don’t Leave Me Again

Error's Rival

Chapter 16: Don't Leave Me Again

Sam let out a small growl. _I can't believe they were able to convince me to join them! _She cursed her friends repeatedly in her head. She had only ever been to once dance before, and that was with Danny…and that had basically ended in disaster. But somehow, Tucker and Keo had convinced her to meet them downtown to go to a casual dance…or something like that. They didn't tell her many details, but she could've sworn that they had been planning it for a lifetime!

She parked her car in a lot just by the street corner that they were going to meet her at. She was ten minutes late now, but of course she figured they should be happy that she showed up at all! Somehow, Sam felt almost guilty for going to meet up with her friends. Was it because Danny wasn't there? Or was it some other reason that she couldn't come up with?

"Hey Sam!" Tucker waved to her, "you actually came!"

Keo leaned up against the wall of a building. From far away, people might be threatened because it was dark and he looked like an ominous shadow up next to the building. Tucker on the other hand, looked very out of place! Sam wasn't sure how well she fit in with the environment at the moment, but of course, she never much cared about how well she fit in.

"So…uh…what exactly are we doing?" Sam asked. She was dressed in the same thing she wore to school that day, which included a basic skirt, shirt and boots. She no longer had to wear leggings because her legs had completely healed over the past few weeks.

"You'll see." Keo smirked and stood up straight before beginning to walk down the sidewalk. Tucker and Sam followed behind him.

Down at the opposite end of the block, Sam saw a large building that had lots of noise echoing through it, not to mention light shining from it and music blasting loudly. "Oh my god…" Sam glared at Keo, "you're taking me to a _bar_!?"

Keo held his sides while laughing, but finally replied, "hell no! It's not a bar! It's just a place to hang out; don't worry, I've been here before. It's not bad or anything!"

Sam growled, and looked at Tucker who gave her a light smile. _Remind me to strangle you later…_

They entered the building, which was different than Sam imagined it to be. She had to admit it didn't look like a bar once she got inside. It was basically just a dance floor with some tables on the far side for people to eat if they wanted to. From what she could see, there was no beer involved.

However, Sam's eyes got wide when both Keo and Tucker tried to push her onto the dance floor, "Come on, Sam." Tucker insisted, "You should loosen up a bit!" He grinned at her in encouragement.

"I-I don't know how to dance!"

Keo smirked, "neither do half the people in here! So what!? I dance like shit, but nobody cares!"

When Sam wouldn't let up, Keo and Tucker let go of her. Tucker looked at Sam, "we're not going to force you to dance or anything, but I do think that you should go crazy for once!" He smiled, "I've never actually danced before! But I'll give it a shot!" He ran out to the dance floor and immediately got caught up with the beat of the music. Sam couldn't help but laugh at his effort.

Keo shook his head and made his way over toward the other dancers, and also began to dance randomly. Sam noticed that his movements were much more controlled and less crazy than Tucker's, and he was pretty good actually. Starting out with a basic throwing his body left and right then twisting his arms around him, and before long his routine was unbelievable and seemed professional! Rather than a graceful and soothing mixture of dance moves, his were more strong and fierce, reminding Sam of a fight.

Sam went over to the tables and sat down by herself, sighing. _Why does Tucker want me to 'loosen up'? _She thought, _I mean, of course I'm a little closed in and everything, but who isn't? _She sighed again, thinking about that time that seemed like a lifetime ago…when her and Danny had gone to prom together. She remembered the two of them practicing ahead of time because neither of them had known how to dance…she remembered getting all dressed up, being so excited just to spend more time with Danny. She missed those times, when she could easily show what she was feeling without having any fear of hiding it…

_Danny and Sam decided that now was a good time to go out there. Both of them showed signs of reluctance as they walked out, but didn't verbally complain. It was a slow song now, which was what they had been working on the past week! They hadn't practiced all of the crazy dances that the others were doing during the fast dances. Danny held Sam close as they swayed to the music, when he held onto her, the necklace on her flared up with energy. Neither of them spoke, neither of them had to, their eye contact spoke for them._

Sam looked at Tucker, a huge grin was on his face while he jumped around like a puppy, then she looked at Keo who impressively twisted and turned with the tune. These moments were the kinds that somehow showed what the person was feeling. Those times with Danny were not fake, not even for a moment…and even though Sam knew that it wouldn't be like that… maybe she could create new memories with her two new friends.

"I know I'll regret this…" Sam mumbled to herself before standing up and slowly walking over to where Tucker and Keo were.

At seeing her arrival, Tucker let out a loud laugh and pointed at Keo, "HA! I _told _you she would come!"

"No! You said she would come after the first three minutes, and I disagreed! It's been five minutes, so technically I was right! She didn't come in three minutes!"

"Whatever! You weren't right!" Tucker barked.

"Wow," Sam crossed her arms, "it's great to see the wonderful support that I have. Did we come to dance or not?"

"Hell yeah!" Keo returned to moving with the music, and Tucker struggled to.

At first, Sam just stood there, not knowing what to do. Something seemed to hold her back. Keo and Tucker remained by her said, patiently waiting for her to move. "I-I can't dance, you guys!" She finally blurted.

"Sam," Keo put a hand on her shoulder, "No matter how terrible you do, I'm sure that you'll do better than this guy." He pointed a finger to Tucker.

"That was uncalled for, Dude!"

Keo ignored that and continued, "Just start by moving your feet." He let go of Sam and started to dance in circles around Tucker, literally.

Sam stared at her feet, taking a small step to the right then a small step to the left, slowly catching up with the beat. "Hey Sam!" Tucker called over to her, "it'll help a bit if you move your arms!" She took his advice and started swinging her arms back and forth. This wasn't too hard. She sped up her movements bit by bit, and took wider steps till she was in a comfortable stance.

"Relax."

Sam nearly jumped in surprise at the voice that spoke into her ear; she turned and faced Keo, who had somehow appeared behind her! She realized that for the past minute she had been basically holding her breath. "S-sorry…this is…different."

"Come on, it's just dancing."

The song faded into a slower tune, less speaking and more actual instruments playing. Before Sam actually realized it, she felt her hands being warmed by Keo's own as she brought herself closer to him and they slowly swayed to the music.

_Danny…_she pulled herself closer to Danny's body, feeling the heat from his body against hers, his heart beat quietly drumming against her as she rested her head onto his chest. _I've missed you, Danny…_She felt a tear come to her eye, _I'm sorry that we didn't get much time at our prom or just time in general…but…_she wrapped her arms around Danny's torso…_this is just as nice…_The dimmed purple light faintly allowed her to see, but she had her face buried into Danny's shirt that she could hardly see. He, in turn, gently let his arms come around her to keep her close. _Stay with me, Danny…_

The song eventually came to a close. "Hey, Sam…uh…" Keo chuckled, "you can…let go now…"

Her eyes widened in realization and she jumped away from Keo, nearly tripping over herself as she did so, "oh my god! I'm _so _sorry!" She quickly apologized, turning bright red. "I-I thought that…" Sam looked down in embarrassment, "I guess I thought you were someone else…"

When she looked up, she was expecting Keo to fall over laughing at her, but was surprised when he was gently smiling. "I know which is why I didn't pull away. I know that you don't like me like _that_, but I thought that you could use a dance."

Sam wiped away the tear that had lodged itself in the corner of her eye, "thank you, Keo. For everything."

Tucker folded his arms, sticking out his lower lip, "why did _you _get to dance with her!?" He barked at Keo, standing about two feet away from the two.

"Because I'm better looking _and_ a much better dancer!" Keo childishly stuck his tongue out at Tucker, grinning all the while.

"What_ever_!" Tucker snarled, "You wanna know what my initials stand for!?"

"No, thanks." Keo started to walk off the dance floor, "I'm thirsty."

Sam couldn't help but smile. Her heart was still racing with…fear? Or was it excitement? She didn't know for sure…but she did know that Keo had seemed so much like Danny; it was amazing to think that they were different people sometimes! She began to lightly jump to the beat of the music as it blared through her ears, making it difficult to hear her own thoughts! She let her body sway and twist wildly like the drums, grinning and laughing with Tucker and Keo, enjoying this night with her friends.

--

"What!?" Sam was nearly heaving in and out, wiping away a layer of sweat from her forehead. They had just walked out of the dance. She walked between Keo and Tucker down the sidewalk, it had to be at least three in the morning now; they had been dancing for so long! "You're _both _leaving!?"

Tucker gave a weak smile, "Christmas is coming up soon, our break started the other day…and my parents want to go visit my grandparents for the winter break. So I won't be back till school starts up again." He sadly stated.

Keo looked away when he spoke, "I promised _someone _that I'd take them to go see the lights in New York for Christmas, she's really excited…so I'll be gone too."

Sam recalled Keo saying that he had a sister, and he seemed very close to her…she assumed that this certain _someone _was his sister. However, Tucker didn't seem to catch on to that detail.

"Alright, well…" Sam managed to give them a smile, "I should head home now, my parents will freak that I'm home at this time. So…I guess I'll see you guys after Christmas, huh?" She walked up to each of them and gave them a hug, "my family doesn't celebrate Christmas or anything…but it'll still be fun." _Yeah right! _Sam got into her car, and watched as Tucker got into his own. Tucker drove off almost immediately, but Sam saw that Keo seemed didn't seem to have a car as transportation. She was curious if he needed a ride. He turned around and began walking down the alley close by.

Sam quickly jumped out of her car and took off running toward where she had seen Keo take off. It was extremely dark, and the alleys were giving her shivers of fear. This part of town wasn't the safest, but then again, no part of town was especially safe at this time. "Keo?" She called out, still trying to catch up to where she thought he had gone. She jogged several feet, looking at all the possible places he could've turned to.

"Are you stalking me now?"

This time, Sam _did _jump with a yelp. "Jeez! That scared me!" She turned and looked toward where Keo was leaning against the wall along the same alley, she had hardly noticed him because he blended so well with the darkness! "I was just coming to see if you needed a ride home or anything."

Keo chuckled, "I live right there." He nodded toward an apartment that Sam didn't think was an apartment at first! The outside was made entirely of wood; there were two stories and probably six spaces to live on each floor. Compared to her mansion, it looked quite pathetic. But it wasn't so bad that Sam felt bad for him either.

"Oh, I didn't know you lived so close to here."

"It's not all that much, obviously, but it's the best I could afford with the money I have now."

"Oh…" Sam didn't know exactly how to respond. She wasn't sure if she should ask _why _he had to pay for his own apartment, or if that was too deep to dig into. "Right…" She paused from the awkward silence that hung in the air but then pulled her lips into a smile, "…I wanted to…apologize for earlier. I honestly have no idea what came over me…"

Keo chuckled with amusement, "you already apologized, don't worry about it, seriously."

"It's just that…well…" _Should I tell him? I have only known him for a few weeks! I told Tucker, so it's only fair that I tell Keo too, right? Even if I've only known him for a little while, we've already become quite close in such a little amount of time. And he deserves to know the truth. _"I want to tell you the truth…about me…" Then, Sam gasped when she was pulled into an embrace. "Keo?"

"How about this," he spoke quietly, "when I get back from my trip, you can tell me whatever you want about you…and I'll do the same about me." He released Sam from his arms. "Deal?"

After a moment of taking in what he had just said, Sam smiled up at the teen, "deal."

--

Sam parked her car in front of her family's mansion at 3:45 AM, turning off the car's engine and sitting back in her seat, hearing the car moan and hiss from exhaustion. Sam hated using cars, she would much rather walk because it was more environmental friendly, but walking this late at night and all the way down town was out of the question!

As quietly as she possibly could, Sam tip-toed into her house and went straight up to her room. She yawned with sleepiness the moment she reached her bedroom; she didn't realize how tired she was until now. _"…you can tell me whatever you want about you…and I'll do the same about me." _Sam thought about Keo's words. She had always been curious about his past, where had he learned to fight so amazingly and where had he learned to dance!? Who were his parents? Why did he have to pay for his own apartment? Question after question popped up into her mind.

_It's just a few weeks…and then he'll tell me the truth. At least that's something to look forward to…_

-Three Days Later-

The day had been long, but not entirely boring. Sam's grandmother had come over, and Sam always loved to talk to her! She and Celeste were adults that Sam greatly admired because both of them knew how to bend rules without breaking them and weren't intimidated by her parents because of their great amount of money. But now Sam was lying on her side under her blankets on her bed, her eyes just barely open.

It was almost completely dark, but her eyes had managed to adjust to the darkness so that she could make out different things within her room. Her window was quite close to her bed, she always stared out of that window at night, looking up at the moon and admiring its beauty. The stars that glittered behind the mist of clouds, it was like a painting that one could stare at in wonder no matter how many times they looked at it.

Slowly…slowly…Sam's eyes closed ever so slowly…She didn't want to look away from the night sky, it was so gorgeous, but sleep seemed to pull harder and harder at her.

There is always a time in a horror movie when it is completely silent and then out of nowhere a great sound crashes into the scene, startling the viewers and making them jump. Sam's eyes had just shut together when she heard a tiny sound. Then _Clang! _Sam shot up in bed, her eyes snapping open from the startling noise.

"Who's there!?" She immediately shouted into the darkness.

Still half asleep, Sam quickly reached into her drawer located beside her bed and pulled out a small ecto-hand gun, completely out of instinct. She blinked rapidly, trying to see through the thick layer of black in her room; it was no use, she couldn't see anything at the moment.

_What the hell? _Sam lowered her gun just a little bit. A strong breeze was coming through her window. _Did I wake up from the window opening? Maybe the wind blew it open or something…_ She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, not quite sure if she was asleep or not. As much as it annoyed her to do so, Sam got up from her bed and went over to the window to close it.

_Shuffle…thump…_

Sam twisted around from the window one hundred and eighty degrees, holding the gun up to eye level, she hadn't let go of the gun yet. "Show yourself!" She snarled. "I have a gun!" Sam's eyes watered in pain when the lights flicked on, and she had flinched because of it, but still held her stance…then she looked up…

_Ba-bmp_

"No…"

_Ba-bmp_

"It…can't be…"

_Ba-bmp _Her heartbeat seemed to increase in volume to her ears by ten times. Her throat clogged with shock and horror. "N-no…" She tried to deny what her eyes were looking at…

On the other side of the room, standing beside Sam's light switch, was Danny.

For several minutes if not hours, Sam and Danny stood on opposite sides of the room, Sam held the gun up at him, trembling uncontrollably, while Danny just stood there, not doing anything except stare at Sam.

Barefooted, with jeans and shirt torn to nearly strips of cloth, mud mixed with blood splattered all across his flesh, dried and crusted like rock. His skin was so frail, there was almost nothing sticking to his bones except for skin, shriveled and dead-looking. His black hair had once framed around behind his ears and stopped midway on his neck, spiking in all directions across his scalp…but now, it reached down several more inches, covering his ears and hanging in his face. Dread locks had formed all along his wild mane. And last of all, his blue eyes…they were exactly the same as Sam had remembered them. Even though the rest of his body looked like it had went to hell and back, his eyes were as fresh and lively as ever.

_Ba-bmp _

"D-Danny?" She asked. _I'm dreaming! I'm dreaming! _

His chapped, crusty lips pulled into a light smile, "That was my name…last time I checked."

The gun was pointed at Danny, never letting up. Sam hadn't moved one centimeter.

"…I…" Danny looked down and sighed, "…I'm sorry for everything that happened…" A cough suddenly worked its way past his lips, making a violent scratching sound; and unseen by Sam, a few drops of blood splattered out from his mouth. "…But, it's good to see you again…Sam…" A moment later, his eyes rolled back, and his knees collapsed beneath him causing him to plummet toward the ground.

_Sam…_the moment he said her name, Sam inhaled deeply. That name seemed to knock her out of her trance. _It really is Danny! _She didn't know what to think, she didn't know whether to be happy or confused or both. But along with those thoughts, Sam was yanked to reality and saw as Danny lost his balance. "Danny!" She cried. The gun was released from her hand, clattering on the ground and she ran forward. He had already landed on her floor when she reached him, but she still dropped down to her knees beside him.

Without realizing it, Sam had tears streaming down her face. "No! Goddamn it, Danny! Wake up!" She pulled his head up into her lap, crying out to him. "Wake up! Please!" Panicking as well as hyperventilating, Sam reached over to her phone and quickly dialed the Fenton's home number. "Danny! Don't leave me! Don't leave me again! Open your eyes! Please!" She howled, listening as the phone rang, continuing to call to Danny.

_Don't leave me again! Stay here! I love you, Danny! Don't do this to me again! _"WAKE UP!"

**A/N: YES! The long awaited moment ever! Danny's return! I originally had him show up in chapter 18, but I figured you guys had waited long enough! With the three day skip, those days that she spent with her family were what the next few chapters were going to be about, but I can honestly say that they got somewhat boring, so of course, I cut them out, which is why things can get fun now! ^_^ Please review! **


	17. Strange Phenomenon

Error's Rival

Chapter 17: Strange Phenomenon

Sam's hands folded tightly together, she just sat there on the steps as the sun traveled further and further down out of eye's sight. Bumps ran all along her exposed arms because the day's warmth was quickly going away, however she did nothing to keep herself heated. When her body began to adjust to the new temperature, Sam quickly began to bite her lip, causing it to bleed. One after another, she seemed to be causing herself suffering.

"What are you doing, Sam?" Jazz came up behind her, noticing the shivering and nearly broken-down girl. She sighed and took a seat beside the teen, "you should come inside."

There was no response.

"We have several beds, why don't you go get some rest?"

No response.

Finally, "Sam, doing this to yourself isn't going to make Danny any better!" Jazz's voice rose to an almost scolding bark, "it is only doing damage to your body! Do you think your pain will make everyone else feel better? Well it doesn't. It makes everyone else feel small and helpless because they can't do anything to help you! Sam, you need to take care of yourself better!"

Large tears sprang to Sam's eyes, she blinked hard and kept her eyes closed, opening her mouth to finally speak, "I can't…sleep…" She trembled, "I'm afraid that if I close my eyes for too long…when I wake up, Danny won't be there." Sam chuckled to herself, "I still can't convince myself to believe this. I don't know how to react. Am I happy that Danny's back? Am I sad that he's hurt? Am I pissed off that was gone for so long? I can't decide."

"He won't leave again." Jazz assured her.

At this, Sam let out a cackling laugh, although there wasn't any real smile or happiness within the laugh, "right! I had thought that he wouldn't leave in the first place! And guess what happened!? I know that I should trust him to be here always…but I don't know anymore, and I hate that I keep thinking like that!" She wiped away the tears from her cheeks, "he had promised to always be there for me! So where the hell was he!?"

"When Danny wakes up, you can ask him yourself."

Sam paused for a moment before asking, "How…how's he doing?"

"He's stable."

_He's stable! He's stable! That's all they say! They have yet to say 'he's doing well' or 'he's doing better', it is always that 'he's stable'! _

"B-but, he should be fine!" Sam shouted with realization, "he can heal really fast! Right? I remember, there were times when he was seriously hurt, but he healed like moments later! Right? Jazz?" Sam finally lifted her head to look at Jazz and nearly gasped when she saw the condition she was in.

Jazz was always so clean and well-groomed for some reason, like she put hours of effort into keeping her hair straight or doing her make-up, but now…she was wearing the same outfit she wore two days ago when Sam had first arrived with Danny, her make-up was smeared around her eyes and at the moment, her red hair was tied in a ponytail, but was in desperate need of a wash. How much sleep had _she _gotten the past few days? Sam could smell the coffee on her breath, so she assumed that the only reason Jazz was up and moving was the kick start from caffeine.

Rather than answering Sam's question, Jazz looked down at the ground for a moment before standing up again, "I had better go help my parents a bit more." She turned to walk back inside but before she had left, she quietly said, "Please…get some sleep." Then Jazz was gone.

Sam exhaled deeply and put her head down onto her lap.

"She's right you know."

At this, Sam nearly yelped in surprise at the sudden voice, but was quick to figure out who it was. "What the hell do you want!?" She snarled.

The invisible, mystery woman ghost replied, "I wasn't expecting such a fierce greeting from you."

Sam's hands balled into fists, "shut up! You knew! Didn't you? You knew that Danny was alive this whole time!" She barked with rage, shutting her eyes once more in an attempt to keep more tears from falling, "You knew! And you didn't tell me! WHY!?"

"It was Danny's request."

"Bull! You just didn't want me to think about him, right? I was so worried! This whole time, I was wondering if Danny was ever going to come back! I even started to lose faith in him, and I hate that feeling more than anything else! Even when I was ready to snap, you didn't mention it once! You did _nothing_! Do you actually care about what happens to either of us!? All that advice you gave me, was any of that even real!? Were you serious!?"

"Samantha!" The ghost woman silenced her before she could continue, "_Never _question my motives for helping you. I have done all I can to make both of you happy! I have constantly been checking up on Danny making sure that he was alright, I did all I could to make sure he got here alive! He asked me not to mention anything to you, do you honestly think that I would be so cruel as to keep this information from you just because _I _wanted to!? Don't think so lowly of me, Sam! I would _never _do something like that!"

Her words seemed to strike Sam in the chest, she had never heard the ghost woman go off like that; something Sam had said must have set her off.

"I'm truly sorry for not telling you, I wanted to…but I couldn't. And I am also sorry for yelling at you like that, that was immature of me."

Sam let out a small chuckle, "It's alright…that's the first time in a while that someone's been so straight forward to me." She couldn't hide the fact that she was silently sobbing though; it was beyond obvious. "I guess I'm just worried."

"Why haven't you gone in to see Danny yet? You only saw him that night, and since then you haven't gone anywhere near him."

"I…don't know…I'm afraid, but I don't know why. I'm afraid to lose him…but I can't get near him either…" Choking on her words and trying to hold in her emotions, Sam continued, "I'm so confused!"

A pair of arms appeared out of nowhere and wrapped around Sam, giving her a motherly sort of hug. It took Sam a brief moment before she let out a cry of surprise.

"What are-" Sam turned and saw that a transparent figure was sitting right beside her, and once the figure released Sam from her hug, she was able to get a better look at the new _thing_. It reminded her somewhat of Allison from when she was trapped in Hell's Dungeon with Danny, the woman was indeed partially invisible, but the details of her could also be made out. She had long straight hair that came midway down her back and was tucked behind her ears, she had a well-toned and athletic body, she looked like she _could_ pass off as a high school student, but Sam was guessing that she was in her twenties.

"This is the first time where I have made an appearance of myself in this form…" The woman gave a light smile and held out her hand, "so I guess this is our first meeting, I'm Noella, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Rather than shaking her hand, Sam stared at the hand held out to her as though it were a sword being pointed at her, "Why couldn't you tell me your name before? Why did you hide your appearance?"

"To tell you the truth, it is sort of forbidden for me to show myself like this to mortals, but I honestly wanted to gain your trust, and it would be nearly impossible to do that without letting you know a bit about me first." She continued to hold her hand out. "I'm sorry, Sam. I'm truly sorry if I caused you any pain. I hope that you'll forgive me."

Sam stared into her eyes, or at least what she could _see _of them, and something about those eyes seemed familiar. "I'm sorry too. I'm sorry that I've been such a bitch to you sometimes." She accepted the handshake, feeling the rippled chills run up her arm from the touch, reminding her of Danny's skin, his ice-cold flesh that also felt so soothing against her own. "How can I face him?" She made the transition so quickly, but Noella quickly picked up on who she was talking about.

"Don't be afraid to see him. You still love him, don't you?"

Sam nodded without having to even think about it, "of course."

"Then just tell him that. There isn't a need for anything else now. Even if he's asleep, he'll be able to hear your words. He traveled non-stop for so long, trying so hard to get back to you…I know that he'll be happy to hear your voice again."

--

Maddie nodded toward Jack and Jazz in the lab for them to leave the room, and turned to Sam for a moment, "we just finished the surgery to repair any damage in his organs…he's alright for the moment, I'll come back in a bit to check on him." She gave her a smile of encouragement before leaving the room as well to leave Sam alone with Danny.

For several minutes, Sam stood in that spot and looked to the table that was located about fifteen feet away with a body lying across it. The room was covered with white sheets, obviously as a clean room used during the surgery, the only reason they were letting her in now was because the surgery was done, otherwise she couldn't get near him.

His heart beat monitor rang through the entire room, that thing was so freaking loud it was annoying. A large tube had been shoved down his throat and attached to one of the several machines surrounding the head of the table he was on. Sam looked at his appearance once more, and to her relief, the clothes he had been wearing were taken off and he was wrapped in several blankets for warmth. Sweat beads dotted across his forehead from his fever, but his hair had been cleaned for the most part of all the dirt and filth that had been caught in it.

"Is it really you, Danny?" Sam whispered, taking a step toward him. "Why do I doubt myself? You were there, I know that you were in my room that night, you said my name…I know that was you. So, why am I asking if you're really there?" She continued to walk to him. "I want you to get better Danny…I want to see you better." She took a seat in a chair beside the table, and without thinking, she reached forward and placed her hand on top of his own, "Can you hear me, Danny? I love you, Danny. I mean that."

_"Sam! I can hear you! Sam! Damn it, why can't I speak!" Danny reached out to where her voice was coming from, "please! Wake up!" He begged for his body to move, to react somehow! _

"I had continued to believe that you were alive…but oddly, when you appeared, I thought that you were my imagination. Does that mean that I had really believed you to be dead? I don't understand this myself…but either way, I was shocked to see you that night." Sam tightened her grip on his hand, bowing her head down to stare at the floor, "Get better…I want to hug you again, I want to hold your hand again…all those times that you were with me, I didn't feel lonely. I hate being lonely."

_"I want to hold you too…" He willed for his hand to react somehow to her touch, to let her know that he was still there, but nothing happened. "I don't want you to be lonely either." Danny then heard light sobs coming from beside him. "Sam? Are you crying?" He clenched his teeth, "Please, I hate it when you cry…especially if it's my fault! I don't want to make you cry." _

_"Why did you leave?" She put her forehead down against the table, hiccupping with each breath as she spoke, "Why did you have to leave me? Did you think that things would get easier if you were gone!? Who else besides you was there to protect me from Venom? From that freak at the movies? From those guys that kidnapped me before I knew about your secret? Who else was there with me to get through those challenges!?" _

_"Sam…it's my fault that you were even put into those situations! I am to blame for those. I wish you could understand why I felt the need to…leave…" _

_"The risks don't matter, as long as we're both alive, we can get better. You're alive…so you need to get better. I know that you did everything you could to come back here, and I'm grateful for that. Now, I just need you to get well again. Can you do that?" She raised her head and looked at Danny, putting her hand forward and stroking his bangs lightly._

_"I'll try, Sam…I'll try my hardest…" _

_--_

_Maddie sat at the table, holding a cup of coffee in her hands, "How could I have been so blind? He was alive all along… and I still was able to tell myself in my heart that he was gone…" She pulled off all her head-gear to let her hair loose, letting her goggles hang around her neck and her hood limply coming down her back. "Sam was right. I shouldn't have given up so easily." She placed her head into the palm of her hand, her elbow propped up to keep her head up. _

_"Mads, you couldn't have known." Jack had taken a seat beside Maddie, a stack of papers in hand. "None of us knew for sure that he was alive." _

_"But we didn't know for sure if he was dead either!" Maddie squeezed her eyes shut. "I have never felt less like Danny's mother than I do now…and I'm not his mother, as much as I try to be, I will never have that connection with him." _

_Jack put a hand on his wife's shoulder, "we may not be his blood relatives, but we can still care for him and accept him for who he wants us to be. Whether that is as friends or family, it doesn't matter, as long as we're there." He smiled in encouragement. _

_--_

_"Sam, please don't leave." He could feel her hand becoming looser as she debated getting up. He wished that he could speak to her, or look at her again. That night when he had appeared in her room, she was afraid and shocked to see him, which isn't the side of her that he wanted to see…he wanted to see her smile at him, to laugh and be happy. "You look the best when you're smiling…and I liked when I was the one to put a smile there." _

_"Danny, why aren't you getting better? Aren't you able to heal really fast? I remember that, I remember in your fights, you would get hurt but healed almost immediately. You healed me when I was hurt, several times…so why can't you heal now?" _

_"Sam…I'm not physically the same as I was before…I had to make a deal with the Gatekeeper, in exchange for coming back here…I had to give him my ghost powers…along with something else…" He bit back tears, trying not to think about the second part of the deal. "I know that I'll have to tell you eventually…but for now, you don't have to know…"_

_--_

_Maddie was down in the basement, it was nearly two in the morning, and she was changing some of Danny's bandages as quietly as possible to keep Sam from waking up. She smiled gently at the young teen that had fallen asleep in the chair beside Danny, still holding onto his hand even now. "I'm sorry I doubted you Sam…" She whispered, finishing with taping up Danny's wounds. _

_Just before she left however, she noticed that Danny's brain waves being monitored had become more active in such a short amount of time. He shouldn't be getting better that fast. She had noticed as well that his wounds were healing a bit faster than she expected. Maddie rubbed her eyes in exhaustion, she hadn't slept in quite a while; I should probably get some sleep so that I can think clearly. _

_Is it possible that…Danny still has some of his fast healing ability? She thought to herself, no…he has no signs of an ectoenergy in his body. If anything, he should be healing slower than the average human being. _

_Even though it was something she wouldn't normally do, Noella listened to Maddie's thoughts with curiosity. She hovered in the air on the other side of the room so that her presence didn't become too obvious. I noticed as well that Danny was healing quicker…Noella pondered the information running through her head, what is causing this? Or…who? _

_--_

_The necklace…Sam's eyes opened quickly, her hand was tightly wrapped around the small orb around her neck while her other was gently clasping Danny's hand. She didn't know for sure if she was dreaming or just thinking, but she had been thinking of so many different things while she was dozing off / sleeping and had finally realized something. _

_"Want to help me put it on?" She held the necklace out to him and turned around so that he could place the necklace around her neck. The second that Danny touched the necklace, the glowing orb's light intensified to an almost white light; he brought it around her neck and clicked it on. The orb was warm against Sam's skin, it came down to the center of her chest and brought a light up under her chin, almost like a firefly in the night. When Danny released the necklace from his grip, the light dimmed once again. _

It wasn't glowing! Every time that Danny had been close to her, the orb lit up with a bright light! Not only that, she remembered how the necklace reacted another time…

_The small orb that rested on her chest became cold as ice. She looked down with a gasp, the remaining green light faded away, and the orb became a pitch black colour._

The time when Danny had died, when he had left her…the precious necklace that he had given her had died out. Sam looked down at the necklace. It was…still black? She looked up to her hand that held onto Danny. The necklace had always reacted to Danny because it was his own ectoenergy! That had to mean…

"That's why you're not healing, isn't it?" Sam bowed her head, "that's why the necklace isn't giving off any light, that's why it feels heavy and cold…you don't have ghost powers anymore. Right?" She bit her lip. "Why? What the hell happened out there, Danny? I haven't really thought about it, but how did you get out? Why are you alive? What happened to Rafael?" She shook her head, "never mind that. It doesn't matter right now, all that matters is that you get better." She squeezed his hand in encouragement, "I'll stay here with you."

Sam felt her fingers squeezed in return, and a voice replied "thanks."

**A/N: (*Snore*) Yes, yes, I know! Boring as hell, right? Sorry, had to be done! But besides that, what did you think of it?**

**I can't even begin to describe how sorry I am for being so late! My schedule should be clearing up soon though, so I will be updating more often now that school is coming to a close in a few weeks. **

**Please review! Thanks! **

**-Desi-**


	18. Betrayal

Error's Rival

Chapter 18: Betrayal

"Danny!?" Sam cried, sitting up straight as though she had been electrocuted. "W-was that you!?"

A light chuckle came from Danny's lips that pulled ever so slightly into a smile, "I guess so." He sharply exhaled in agony from his broken ribs and just the complete pain and exhaustion throughout his entire body. "Sam, I-" He clutched his side in pain, wincing and hissing.

"Don't talk!" Sam put a hand on his shoulder gently, "Just stay still!" She looked over to the steps that led up toward the living room, debating what she should do! "I-I'll go get the others!" She hated to even think about leaving his side at the moment, but they needed to be here! She took a step to leave but her hand was quickly grabbed.

"Sam…stay…" His eyes pleaded for her to not leave him, he desperately wanted her to stay with him.

Those eyes…His plead immediately struck deep into her soul. Sam's eyes began to water. She knew that feeling, that horrible tightness in her chest that felt like a knotted rope endlessly being tangled up. The throbbing in her heart that cried with sorrow. That feeling…she remembered it all to well…when he had abandoned her. In an instant, Sam turned her head from him and yanked her hand away from his grasp, but didn't move from that spot.

Allowing her hair to fall into her eyes to hide them from view, Sam spoke with a trembling voice, "why…why…" her whisper burst into a roar, "_why the hell did you leave me_!!!" She kept her head down, "how could you!? How _dare _you! What the hell did that even accomplish! Did you honestly think that running away would keep me safe! Why!? Do you know what you did to me? Do you know how hurt I was!? Did you even care about how I would feel!? Give me one damn reason! Tell me! Tell me why it was so important to leave your friends and the only people who have called you a family and just walk right back to where you started! Tell me why you left…" She snapped her head up to look Danny in the eyes, "why did you leave me…?"

Sam's voice drifted off and her knees felt weak beneath her. She fell to her knees, sobbing into her hands. _What did I just say!? _She was crushed by the look in his eyes; she suddenly regretted opening her mouth at all! He was so hurt by her words. Now he wasn't only physically hurt…she had just twisted a knife into his heart!

It was silent for so long, until-

"I'm so sorry." Danny bit his lip, "But…I couldn't live with the idea of you getting hurt because of me…I thought that if I was gone, you would be safe."

"Danny, how can I be safe if you're not there to protect me?" Sam's eyes, swimming in tears, locked eyes with him, "I would rather die with you than be alone without you. Because I love you, Danny! Damn it, I love you!" She clenched her teeth, "You promised…you promised that you would be there for me!" Her hands balled into fists with anger. All the emotions she had bottled up from the time he left began to spill out. "WHY!? You betrayed me! You fucking betrayed me!!"

Danny winced, his lip curled in between his teeth, and he looked up at the ceiling, feeling smaller and smaller by the second. "I….I'm sorry…"

His apology calmed her racing heart, but it still wasn't enough. Sam begged herself to calm down and accept his words, she knew deep down that he meant it…but the surface of her emotions were snarling with fury, refusing to allow those simple words make up for everything. Sam turned and took off at a sprint, going up the stairs two at a time, and nearly yelped when she came inches away from crashing into Jazz.

"Sam? Are you alright?"

Very quietly, Sam replied "Danny's awake…will you go make sure he's alright?"

Eyes widening, not believing what she was hearing, Jazz called to her parents for them to come and immediately went into their lab/basement.

_Make sure he's alright_…she meant that in two ways, make sure that he's feeling alright physically…and make sure that he wasn't completely torn apart by her words.

--

Maddie, Jack and Jazz were all around Danny, working hard to replace bandages and his IV bag, even though he was as good as he _could _be at the moment, they wanted to do everything they could to make him comfortable. At the moment, Danny was sitting upright, supported on all sides by the Fentons.

Even though it should've been a happy and joyful reunion between all of them, the cold feeling that spread throughout the room made it difficult to be cheery. "Danny…she just needs some time, that's all." Jazz commented.

Shaking his head, Danny replied, "I wouldn't blame her if she never forgave me…it was my fault after all. Nothing I say can change what I've done. She's right…" _I betrayed her…_ "I was scared. Scared of what Rafael might do to hurt her any further, I wasn't thinking of what was best for everyone, I was only thinking about how to keep her alive. I'm so stupid!" He let out a howl of frustration, which soon turned into a howl of agony from his wounds.

"Calm down," Maddie patted Danny gently on the shoulder, "you'll only make your injuries worse."

"Maddie," Jack quietly spoke to his wife, "take a look at this." Jack was helping to hold Danny from behind him, so Jack was observing his neck and back to make sure all his injuries were healing correctly without infection.

Maddie leaned over from Danny's left side to look at where her husband was pointing to. "Oh my god." She quietly breathed, looking that the back of his neck at the top of his spine where his small chip was placed. The chip had been implanted into Danny's spine at a young age, and there had been no safe way to remove it without damaging his spine in the process. "It's…broken?"

At first, Danny was worried about what they could be talking about, but then he realized that they were talking about the chip.

_Sam saw Venom reach into his cloak and pull out one of the knives used previously to attack Danny with, and pulled Danny closer to him, holding the knife up._

_"What are you doing!?" Sam cried. Was he going to kill Danny? What was he doing with that weapon!_

_Venom aimed and struck. The knife was stabbed into Danny at the top of his spine, Sam gasped in horror, but then realized that Danny stopped screaming._

_Danny exhaled deeply, feeling a sharp pain in the back of his neck, but the agony that had been spreading through his entire body was gone. The chip in his neck had been destroyed. _

"Yeah," Danny spoke to them, "it was destroyed a little while back."

All of the Fentons looked at each other, none of them knew what had happened back at Hell's Dungeon, or as they knew it was the S.E.H.S Organization building. The S.E.H.S Organization: a set up from the beginning that planned to use _humans _as experiments. Scientific Experiment of the Human Species; Danny felt sick just by the name of it, not only was it an illegal experiment, but it involved innocent lives!

Danny exhaled deeply, "Jack…Maddie…Jazz…" Danny quietly spoke to them, "I'm sorry I left like that. It was wrong of me, I let my feelings get in the way, and for that, I'm so sorry." He knew that they were too nice to ask him to say what happened after he had left to rescue Sam, he knew that they were afraid to bring it up. But they were as close to a family as he had, and he trusted them. Danny began to tell them everything that happened; unaware that Sam was sitting on the steps out of view, listening to him with tears streaming down her cheeks.

-S.E.H.S Organization-

Down toward the end of a long hallway, a man in his aged years walked slowly down past all the doors, seeing on either side of him the numbers that were painted to represent whose corpse was inside the door. The doors were all made of a thick metal, all of which were very strong and hard, if not impossible to break out of. The man came to the last door and on it was painted the number 112; the experiment that he had nearly completed but failed. It made him furious to think that all his years of hard work were failed.

Or…perhaps not…

The man looked down at the handle to the door with 112 on it, and a gleam came to his eyes, like a rabid wolf on the hunt. Rafael gently touched the handle, and threw his head back with a barking laugh. The door had been forced open, and when Rafael pulled the door open, he realized that it had been smashed open from the _inside_.

"Things just keep getting better and better, Subject 112." He grinned. "Looks like this game isn't over after all." He turned to look at the boy who stood closely beside him, "seems like you'll be able to have a bit of fun, young one." He ruffled the hair on top of the boy's head like a master petting a dog, "You're not ready to go yet, but I promise…soon you'll be able to have some fun."

The boy pulled his lips back into a smile, "I'm lookin' forward to it."

-Amity Park-

The room was completely silent as Danny told the painful story of what had happened and concluded it at the part when he was killed by Rafael. However, he left out a few details that he didn't feel comfortable saying, for example, he didn't mention the fact that Rafael was in reality, his father. He also didn't talk about anything that happened with the Gatekeeper or his deal. Only two people knew everything that he had to exchange for his life, the first was Noella and the second was Venom, unfortunately.

"Danny, you should rest now, you just woke up and your body is still healing." The Fentons had finished patching him up, and at the moment they were standing around Danny, having been listening to his story with interest and horror. Maddie continued, "Jack and I have not yet figured out why your body is healing so fast… or even why you are conscious right now, because with the condition you were in…" She shook her head, unable to finish the sentence.

Danny's eyes narrowed in interest, "How…how long have I been out?"

"Only a few days. Your wounds are healing at a miraculous rate…which shouldn't happen, no human body could possibly heal this quickly!"

Lowering his head in realization, Danny quietly said, "I assumed that you would figure it out…obviously while you were helping me get better…" He sighed and confirmed what they had all come to know, "I lost my ghost powers."

Sam, still hiding from view, bit her lip when he said this. _So it was true…_She glanced down at the orb around her neck. _What the hell happened to cause this? _

"Danny, I am curious to know what led to this, but you are in no condition to be awake right now, if you want to get better sooner, then you need rest." Maddie nodded to Jack and Jazz.

"Don't worry, Danny, we'll get to the bottom of this soon!" Jack gave him a thumbs-up with a smile.

Jazz put her hand on Danny's shoulder in encouragement, "take it easy, Danny."

Danny lied back down on the somewhat uncomfortable table/bed, of course he didn't have a pillow or anything with him so it felt awkward; and even with the pain killers his body ached both from the stitches due to the surgery as well as his original injuries.

All three Fenton's passed by Sam on their way up the stairs, not surprised in the least that she was there. The last one to pass Sam was Maddie and she stopped for a moment and leaned down to Sam, whispering into her ear, "You can go see him now if you like. But don't be too long." And to Sam's surprise, Maddie gave her a warm hug, smiling at her with such kindness that Sam's heart immediately felt lighter.

"Thank you, for everything." Sam whispered back before walking down the remaining stairs to where Danny was.

"Sam?" Danny quickly attempted to sit up, but when he couldn't, he just remained lying down.

"Danny…" She didn't know the right words to say, so she let her body take over. Sam went up beside Danny and put her arms around him gently, trying not to cause him any pain. Her head rested on his shoulder, her tears dripped down onto his skin. Danny's returned the hug, stroking her hair lightly with his hand and holding her close to his body.

"It'll be okay, Sam. It'll be okay now." He assured her.

Sam nodded, believing his words.

Danny then noticed that she still had the necklace around her neck that he gave her on prom night…it was no longer green…he had loved when it glowed brightly whenever they were close, the light under her chin made her shine, showing the beauty that was rarely seen by anyone other than him.

"I could see you…even when I was gone…" He thought back to when he was in The Wandering, trying desperately to find out his name and his past. "You were all I thought about. You saved me." If it had not been for her, he wouldn't have been able to reflect on his past as well and it might've been too late before he remembered his own name. "Thank you, Sam."

The hairs on her neck rose from his breath; when he said her name, shivers traveled along her spine. She had missed being close to him, she had missed him so much… Sam turned her head toward him and her lips quickly met his. Time seemed to hold still while they passionately kissed, as though trying to make up for their time apart so long. Sam's hands ran through his hair and down his neck; it was only a few minutes later that Sam pulled away quickly and gasped "oh I'm sorry, Danny!" She hadn't realized that she was hurting him! "You need to tell me if you're in pain!"

At this, Danny smirked with a little cringe, "It didn't bother me much, besides, that's a pretty easy way to forget pain."

"You're such an idiot." Sam held his hand, "I love you."

"I know I am." Danny smiled, "I love you too."

--

Maddie came down to where Danny was about an hour later to make sure he was alright. When she arrived there, she chuckled lightly. Danny was lying on the table, but had moved over several inches, and beside him Sam had comfortably fallen asleep snuggled up beside him. Maddie saw that Danny still had his eyes open and was lightly caressing her cheek, smiling down at her. Danny didn't even notice Maddie's arrival, he had his eyes fixed on the girl beside him, and Maddie took that opportunity to go back up the stairs, leaving them alone.

**A/N: Too cheesy? Sorry about that! I rewrote this chapter so many times it was crazy! I was never satisfied with how it turned out! Oh and don't worry, the action/fighting will be coming shortly! =D Please review! **

**PS: Because I'm SUCH a nice person, I'm doing a double post! So enjoy the next chapter as well! **


	19. Reunited

Error's Rival

Chapter 19: Reunited

**A/N: Since the last chapter was so much shorter than average, I made this one a bit longer to make up for it! ^_^ Enjoy!**

Down a dark alley, where the sun couldn't touch even if it wanted to, a form was lying horizontal to the ground, leaning up against the brick wall near him. It was such a beautiful day; however, he wasn't able to enjoy it with the condition he was in. Sweat gleamed against his pale skin, his chest going up and down rapidly as he took in deep breaths of air.

"Brother?" A gentle voice called out.

Keo gritted his teeth with fury and looked over to where his sister was poking her head out of the door to their apartment. Her eyes were closed, as they often were, but she glanced around as if expecting to find him. She waited for his response, shrinking down in fear when there was no reply.

"Brother, are you there?"

"Goddamn it!" Keo hissed, bringing his hand into a fist. Finally, he focused on raising his voice, trying to sound natural while he spoke, "It's alright, Aunally! I'm over here, I'm fine…just go back inside, and I'll be back in a minute!"

The corners of Aunally's lips pulled lightly into a smile when she heard her brother's voice; she gave a quick nod in response and retreated back into their home, leaving Keo to himself once again.

"Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!" Keo rolled over onto his stomach and drove his fist into the cement beneath him, as though hoping it might make him better. "I used too much energy! I'm so stupid!" He let his head fall down to rest on his fist that now had blood running down his knuckles. "I can't let Aunally worry…"

Keo had nothing to grab onto in order to help himself up, so he ended up pulling his knees up beneath him like an inchworm, looking ridiculous as he slowly worked his body up till he was kneeling, and from there things were easier to get to his feet. Keo wobbled a bit once he was standing, but he managed to mask how he was feeling and made his way toward where his sister waited for him. "Only a few days…a few days till school starts up again…" he thought of Sam and the promise he made to her, "Was it stupid to agree to that?" He shook his head. "Oh well, no taking it back now.

"The only thing I can really do is hope that she'll accept everything."

--

"This is…unbelievable…" Maddie gaped in awe and shock at the sight before her.

Danny stood beside the table that he had spent a good several days on since he returned, and was currently stretching his limbs out to get rid of the muscle cramps he had obtained during his time off of his feet. "What is?"

"You…walking…" Maddie and Jack both stared wide eyed at their adopted son. "You shouldn't be able to walk yet! How can you possibly be on your feet already!?"

Danny raised an eyebrow, "I thought we already concluded that I was healing faster than usual."

"Yes…but how?" This time, Jack was the one to ask. He looked at the records of Danny's progression over the past several days, and other than a few minor things, Danny was just about back to normal physically. "This is impossible!" Despite what most people thought, Jack was very capable of thinking things through very thoroughly in his mind, and at the moment, his brain was working non-stop with possibilities to this phenomenon. As a scientist, he often searched for an answer, he and his wife had dedicated their lives to finding answers, but there were some things in this world that remained mysteries.

Sam stood only a foot from where Danny was, her face glowing with happiness at the sight of Danny standing, and not to mention smiling! It was hard to believe that only a few days ago he was unable to even lift his head without difficulties. "How're you feeling?" She quietly asked.

Danny turned to look at her with that same smile that took her breath away, "Great. I'm feeling great!"

Before she knew it, Danny wrapped an arm around her back and pulled her in close to capture her lips with his own. Sam was feeling a bit embarrassed with the Fentons in the room, but Danny didn't seem to mind them being there at all.

There were several moments of silence before the two pulled apart, reluctantly. Then, Danny turned to face Jack and Maddie, "Um…there was something you wanted to talk to me about, right?" He was referring to the time several days previous when Maddie had said that she wanted to know what had occurred to bring him back from the dead, and what had happened that made him lose his ghost powers.

At the mention of this, Sam's eyes widened. It was so hard to wrap her mind around the fact that Danny no longer had his powers, he was no longer half ghost…things were different about him, maybe not mentally, but physically. She remembered seeing him through the orb around her neck, she knew that it wasn't made up, he had been there…but she never learned exactly what the hell was going on then.

Maddie nodded, and all four of them sat down and began to listen as Danny explained _most _of what happened to him after he had been killed. The only part he really left out was the second part of the deal he made with the Gatekeeper, as if hoping that by not mentioning it…it wouldn't have to come true…

--

As much as Danny hated to do this, he agreed to sleep down in the lab one more night and keep monitoring his heart, breathing, etc. However, he was given a pillow and blanket to keep him comfortable this time. And at around midnight, still lying there with his eyes stuck on the clock located at the other end of the room, Danny heard footsteps leading down the stairs.

His heart beat spiked for a moment as he tensed with caution. He could no longer sense a person just by being close to them; he had to rely on only the senses of a regular human. Danny exhaled deeply when he saw Sam walk into the room. "What are you doing here?"

"The couch is boring." Without even needing permission, Sam lied down beside Danny and he draped the blanket around both of them, wrapping an arm around her to hold her close. "The couch isn't as warm as you. And it doesn't hold me either."

Danny chuckled, "Well, I'm glad that I hold more of a use than the couch."

It was silent for several minutes while the two teens settled on the table, enjoying each other's company. Then, Sam looked up at the clock, "Hey, Danny."

"Mm?" His eyes were closed now, but he was still very much awake.

"Merry Christmas."

At this, Danny opened his eyes and stared at Sam, "what?"

"Merry Christmas." Sam repeated, as though Danny hadn't heard her the first time. Even though her family didn't celebrate Christmas, that didn't mean she never acknowledged it.

"I…didn't realize that it was Christmas…"

"Well, we've sort of had other things to worry about."

"I know, but…" Danny felt guilty, "…I should've gotten you something."

At this, Sam laughed. "I'm not expecting you to buy me something, Danny!" She snuggled up closer to him, "Besides…you being here is the best Christmas present I could ever hope for."

-S.E.H.S Organization-

Rafael watched with eager eyes as his creation brought its arm back and struck forward toward a block of concrete that had been set up. Rafael stood on the sidelines of the metallic training room, while a young boy stood in the middle of the room, jumping back and forth as different obstacles came into his range. Eyes lifeless, but burning with excitement. Then a gun came out from an opening in the wall, firing several rounds in his direction.

Relaxed and completely confident, the boy drove his body off the ground with a light jump, going all the way up to the forty foot tall ceiling and redirecting his jump off the ceiling so that he shot straight toward the large gun that stuck out of the wall. No more than a moment later, the gun was ripped off of its hinges and gave a few sparks before dying completely.

"How long has it been?" Rafael turned to the several doctors that watched the boy's performance.

"Seventeen hours straight, Sir."

There was not one drop of sweat running down his face; his heart rate had yet to move up even one more beat per minute. He was just as ready for fighting as he was when he first walked into the training room.

"Pyrros, you truly are a miraculous creature." Rafael grinned to himself. He finally began to walk forward, "All right, that's enough for today!" He announced to everyone. The machines immediately began to shut down, all making whining noises of exhaustion as they did so. Rafael then made his way forward toward where Pyrros now stood, "You did very well today, son."

Instinctively, Pyrros dropped down to his knees and bowed his head down in respect, as though hailing a king. "Thank you, sir. I am happy that you think so."

"Please, be at ease, Pyrros. Formalities are not needed."

Now given permission to be himself, Pyrros brought his head up with a big smile on his face, "Did ya see that, father!? Did ya? I did really good, no? I did good? Are you happy, father? Happy?" Pyrros pulled his knees up so that he was now crouched on the ground, bouncing up and down lightly like an excited puppy.

"Yes, son, you did very well today. I'm very proud."

Beaming with joy, Pyrros looked up to the man that he both respected and loved, "Thank you, father!"

"Are you ready to fight for real this time?"

"Really!? You'll let me fight for real? For real!?"

"Yes, son, for real. I have no doubt that you will help me to achieve my goal."

Pyrros lightly bowed his head again, feeling the excitement lower inside of him, "Anything for you, father."

"Good boy." He grinned, treating this young child almost like an owner would treat a dog, "you'll definitely be able to help me…"

"What will I do!?"

Knowing that anything said to Pyrros would not affect him traumatically, Rafael replied, "You will need to kill a few people while in the process of capturing a few people."

"Sorta like tag!?" Pyrros's happiness returned to him, pumping him with energy, "I gotta get them before they run away!?"

"Exactly. Do you think you can do that?"

"Mm-hm! No problem!" His lips pulled into a grin, revealing his fangs, "I love tag!"

-Amity Park-

"Danny, quit whining!" Jazz leaned into Danny's bedroom, but didn't walk in because it still was _his _room. As always, he never closed the door or the window, so it's not like he could lock her out or anything, and she respected that by not barging in uninvited. "Just get dressed! Sam's waiting!"

Danny groaned and landed belly-up on his bed, "I'll get in so much trouble from my teachers! I'll have so much to catch up on!"

"Which is why going now is better than later! You are still a teenager, Danny; you still have to attend school!"

"They all think I'm dead anyway!"

Jazz gasped, "Danny! Don't talk like that! That's just a rumor that went around the school!"

"You mean the town. Everyone thinks I'm still dead! Just imagine what would happen if the dead came back to school! You think people hated me then, just wait till I show up _again_!"

"You're being a baby!"

"So?"

Jazz growled. "You're all healed now," she sounded uncomfortable saying that he was completely healed for some reason, maybe it was the fact that it shouldn't have been possible, but still, "therefore, you have to start living like everyone else! And that includes getting out of the house!"

"No…" Danny moaned with as much complaint as possible.

After a moment, Sam appeared in the doorway, not bothering to wait she just walked right in, "Danny! Get up and get dressed or I will get you up myself!" She put her hands on her hips and stood beside his bed, waiting for his response. "Today I want you to meet Tucker and Keo, two friends that I made while you were gone. I told you about them the other day, remember?"

Danny winced at the reminder, feeling almost guilty that she had to rely on other friends because he had left. He knew that he should feel happy for her, but oddly, it was uncomfortable. "Tucker and Keo…hm…" He closed his eyes and pictured how they would look in his mind, for some reason he had an image of both of them being Goth like Sam, but…he doubted that they were. "Ugh…fine, fine." He rolled over to the edge of the bed and pulled himself up, "but if Dash is at school, don't count on me holding back! Because I don't have to anymore!"

Sam knew that he was trying to make it a joke, but at the mention of his powers… she hated thinking about it…she knew for a fact that it was hurting him on the inside, no matter how he tried to hide it…and the fact that he _was _hiding it was what hurt her the most. "Just get up, you idiot!" She smiled before leaving his room.

--

"So…these _friends_ of yours…what are they like, exactly?"

Sam rolled her eyes. The two of them were walking to school, even though it was quite chilly outside, but that didn't seem to bother them. "Tucker is really sweet, and was able to really help me when I needed it. He likes electronics a bit too much for his own good."

"So he's a geek?"

"No!" Sam paused for a moment. "Well…sort of. But the way you say that just makes it sound like an insult! But anyway, he's really nice! And Keo…well…he's different that's for sure!" Sam looked up at Danny, "actually, he really reminds me of…"

Pause. "Of…who?" Danny inquired, turning to look at Sam because of her lack of a complete sentence.

Sam thought back to the night when she mistook Keo for Danny and danced with him at that party, a blush came to her cheeks, which she tried to hide by looking the other way, "Never mind. Keo is a really good fighter though!"

"Fighter!? What kind of fighter!?"

"Um…never mind. This conversation is getting nowhere. I'll just let you meet him yourself and you'll see!"

Danny narrowed his eyes. _Fighter? Like, boxing? Or…ghost fighting? _

The rest of the walk to school was in silence, but neither of them found it awkward. For the second part of it, Danny reached over and grabbed Sam's hand to make sure she didn't feel ignored, also because he was dying to hold her hand for a while! She lightly blushed, and felt like such a _girly-girl _doing so, because blushing was just not like her at all!

Soon, they saw the school in the distance. Sam felt Danny's hand tighten with fear. He was technically still on the list of students at the school, his death had never really been confirmed at all, so it's not like he had to enroll there again. But, that didn't mean it would be any less awkward.

"Tucker!!" Sam saw the boy by the doors as they neared, and waved to him in order to grab his attention.

"That's him?" Danny whispered to Sam while Tucker smiled and jogged up to them. He had to admit, this Tucker guy was not how he expected, but for some reason, he was glad that this guy seemed more civilized than the image he had of him.

Tucker slowed down as he approached, and then looked over at Danny, noticing that he was holding Sam's hand. Then, his eyes widened as he recognized the boy he was looking at. Tucker had read a news article about when Sam and a boy named Daniel Fenton had gone missing, and on that article were two pictures, one of Sam and one of a boy just like this one. _Danny…this is…Danny? The guy that disappeared a while ago!? There's no way! _"You're…Danny?" _This is the guy that abandoned Sam? The one that broke her heart!? What is he doing here!? I thought he was dead! _He felt a wave of anger run through him at the thought of how much pain this guy had caused Sam. And then remembered something else as well…

"Uh…yeah…" Danny scratched the back off his neck, not knowing what to say. So…this guy already knew who he was…which made Danny feel a bit uncomfortable. "So…you already know who I am, huh?"

There was a pause before Tucker spoke again, "I know that we just met, but I am _so _sorry for this!" He closed his eyes and threw his fist forward at Danny, allowing his knuckles to slam directly into Danny's stomach. A hiss escaped from both Tucker and Danny, but for different reasons. Tucker hissed from the idea of hurting some guy he had just met! And Danny had air knocked out from his stomach, causing him to exhale deeply in pain. "Oh my god, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Tucker quickly apologized, realizing that Danny was on his knees, "I'm sorry!" He repeated, dropping to one knee beside Danny.

"Tucker!" Sam cried, "what the hell was that for!?" She growled.

"I'm sorry! I promised myself I would! I'm so sorry, man! You have complete permission to hit me back!"

Tucker's eyes widened when he saw that Danny laughed, looking up at him, "nah, its cool. I get why you did."

Sam looked back and forth between the two, "is this some sort of guy thing! I don't get it!"

Answering before Tucker could, Danny replied "yeah, sort of. I deserved that." _I deserve much more than that actually…for abandoning my best friend and the only girl I ever loved while also breaking a promise to her at the same time…_Danny looked at Tucker in the eyes, not showing any hint of anger or wanted revenge, but looked at him with already growing respect. _Anyone who cares about Sam and helped her is someone I am willing to trust. _He got up to his feet, brushing off a bit of dirt from his pants before standing up straight.

"Are you alright, Danny?" Sam quickly asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." He exhaled, "Alright! Let's just get this over with…" Even though Tucker hadn't hit him with a bone-breaking punch, it was definitely going to leave a bit of a bruise.

They continued their short journey to Casper High.

--

"Mr. Fenton!!" A loud crash echoed through the nearly empty room as Lancer dropped a stack of books in his arms. There was a pause…a _long _pause while Lancer stared disbelievingly at Danny, as though expecting him to vanish from sight any moment. He looked toward Sam and then Tucker, waiting for one of them to explain what was going on, but none was given.

"Uh…hey, Mr. Lancer." Danny forced himself to smile, despite the completely awkward moment that seemed to drag on forever. _What should I say? 'Hey Mr. Lancer! Guess what? I'm not dead!' or should I say something like… 'Miss me?' What the hell do I do! _He looked to Sam for help. _Jeez, this is why I didn't want to come to school! _

Lancer blinked a few times, and then seemed to snap right out of his trance and bent down to pick up the books he had dropped. And in a very calm manner, he spoke again, "Welcome back, Mr. Fenton. You've been gone quite a while. It's nice to see that you're doing well."

"Huh?" Danny couldn't help but say what he was thinking. _That's it? No 'Where the hell were you, young man!' or even a 'you have a lot of work to make up!' he just says 'welcome back'?_ "Th-thanks Mr. Lancer! It's nice to be back! Heheh."

"Smooth." Tucker muttered under his breath, and then walked over to his desk to sit down.

Danny looked questioningly at Sam and Lancer, as though expecting one of them to tell him what to do and where to sit and everything. Class would be starting in five minutes, which was definitely not enough time for Danny to get comfortable!

Sam walked toward her desk and sat down, while Danny followed her and sat down behind her desk, not saying anything. They glanced at each other a few times, before Danny finally spoke to Tucker again, "So…Tucker, right? Um…how're things for you?" He bit his lip.

"Good, actually. I moved here a little while ago, but I have really enjoyed it here."

Danny nodded, "well, I'm glad that you moved here." He looked down, trying to find the right way to put his words, "Thanks for looking after Sam."

Tucker raised an eyebrow in confusion, but nodded "you're welcome. But she really didn't need looking after; she can look after herself pretty well."

Sam glared at the two of them, "you make it seem like I'm not in the room! Who actually says those things!?" A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips, it did make her feel nice to know that they thought of her as a strong girl, but, Sam thought to herself, Tucker didn't realize how much he actually helped her during her time of need.

"So…Danny…um…" Tucker glanced over at Lancer who was currently writing a few sentences on the chalk board, and stopped himself from saying more. He wanted to ask Danny a few things, but it probably wasn't the best place to talk about anything, even if it was just in front of one person. "Never mind. I can ask you later."

Not too long later, the first bell rang throughout the school, indicating that school was about to start. And within twenty seconds, students began to walk into the classroom. Conversations were broken off in mid-sentence, eyes widened, and whispers began to spread through groups when people noticed that Danny Fenton was back! Information like that spread like wildfire between teenagers. Danny could do nothing but hide his face from view as best as he could, feeling his skin burn from all of their stares.

_I'm right freaking here! Do you guys honestly think I don't hear what you're saying!? _Danny wanted to scream at all of them. Their glares/staring made him very uncomfortable, and now he could only rely on his human senses to distinguish one thing from another.

"Settle down, class, settle down!" Lancer barked for them to take their seats so that he could start the class, which Danny was grateful for.

Danny's attention came to Sam when she leaned over toward Tucker and hissed a whisper, "where's Keo?"

Tucker shrugged in reply, looking at the clock and noticing that Keo was late. "Usually he's here on time. I don't know."

Sam narrowed her eyes in thought, "that's weird." Her attention went back to Lancer as he began his lesson.

It was about twenty minutes later, twenty agonizing minutes to be exact, when everyone turned their attention to the door. Lancer stopped talking in mid-sentence and turned to look at the visitor. "Mr. Keo, you are quite late today, I hope you are aware."

The door swung open and the pale boy wearing black clothes with spiky black hair walked in, a smirk plastered across his face. "Sorry, got caught up with something else." He replied.

Sam smiled at Keo, _yes! He did show up! _She had been trying not to worry, but she couldn't help it. Keo had told her that he would be back when school started, so a million thoughts had run through her mind of what could've gone wrong. But now he was back, and was perfectly alright.

Keo looked over into her direction, his bright purple eyes gleaming with the morning light.

_CRASH! _

Everyone in the room jumped at the sudden, jarring sound that caused their hair to stand on end. The entire classroom turned around in their seats, facing toward where the sound came from, each of them eager to find out. Sam also turned around, and immediately gasped, "oh my god! Are you okay!?"

A chair was lying on its side, the entire desk had been moved, as though it was kicked away several inches. On the floor between the two isles, Danny pressed his back up against the wall right behind him, and was continuously pushing himself against it, trying to fall even deeper into the solid wall. His eyes wider than Sam had ever seen them before. Danny looked as though he fell into shock, all the blood seemed to drain from his face, and sweat began to gather along his forehead. His arms convulsed with panic, even though he desperately tried to keep himself from shivering.

The room couldn't have gotten more silent. No one moved for several moments, they all just sat there and stared at the scene before them.

With a shaking hand, Danny pointed toward the Gothic boy that stood before the class, "K-K-K-"

Sam looked back to Keo and was shocked to find him _smirking_, rather than saying something.

Danny stumbled across his tongue, "K-K…_Klayton_!!"

The boy who had just been referred to as 'Klayton' grinned in reply, "Hi Danny, long time no see."

A/N: Cliffy at all? How many of you remember who Klayton was? If not, don't worry, you'll probably remember soon when I go into detail more. But, I mentioned him in Error's Love, the first story, in chapter 8, if you wanted to go back and read that bit with him in case you forgot.

**Also, that scene when Tucker hit Danny, Jezebel mentioned to me that Tucker had 'sworn' that he would kick Danny's ass if he ever met him because Danny had caused Sam so much pain, and I guess I figured I might as well have Tucker keep his promise! ^_^**

**Anyway! Tell me what you think of it! **


	20. Klayton

Error's Rival

Chapter 20: Klayton

-Flashback-

The floor was cold against Danny's face; his bones ached terribly from not having a comfortable surface to sleep on. He used his arms to shakily pull his body up in search of someone. His eyes widened in horror when he realized that there was not a person beside him. The others were still asleep from exhaustion. The young boy turned left and right several times, as though hoping that his eyes had tricked him into not seeing his friend. "Klayton?" Danny silently called out, "Klayton!?" He hissed.

Slowly, Danny dragged his body into a sitting position, where he then pulled his legs up and hugged them to his chest. Fear and anger boiled inside of him, fear that his friend was taken away by the scary men in white coats, fear that he was…that he was dead…and also anger at himself for not waking up earlier. _How could I not have woken up? When was he taken away? It had to be last night when we were asleep. _Danny remembered clearly that they had fallen asleep together. They always did. The two of them took turns using the other as a pillow for their head, even though their bodies had become frail and meatless over time, it still provided some support for their neck and head.

Klayton had been resting his head on Danny's stomach, and Danny had taken his torn shirt off and put it over Klayton as a blanket after he had fallen asleep in an attempt to make him more comfortable. Danny knew all too well how hard things were, and the two of them had done everything they could to stay healthy and alive.

"Klayton?" Danny said again and still there was no reply. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. _What time is it? Well, breakfast hasn't come yet, so it's earlier than seven. Klay' and I fell asleep about two hours after dinner…gah, I don't know. _He never had worried about time before he was taken to this place, his mother was always the one who said 'dinner time' or 'bed time' to him; he never had to think of things like that himself. He never cared how much sleep he was getting, he just woke up when he felt like it or whenever momma woke him up; but now…things were different.

He had met Klay' several weeks ago and immediately they became friends. Well, friends was a strange way of putting it. They depended on each other more than anyone else and they talked to each other to make time go by, but it's not like they were able to go and play with action figures together or play video games together…they just had to use the other in order to survive. That is the kind of friend Klayton was for Danny, and vice versa.

It was a half an hour later when the door to their cell opened, almost every head in the entire room shot up at the sound of the metal screeching as it swung open. Danny's eyes grew wide when he saw a scary man in a white coat bring Klayton into the cell and drop him onto the floor, literally, and then he left, locking the door behind him. "Klayton!" Danny cried and jumped up immediately, running toward his fallen friend. "Are you okay!?" He dropped down to his knees, waiting for a response. "I'm so sorry! I didn't notice that you were gone!"

It was a moment before the boy lifted his head up, he was trying extremely hard to hide the shaking that ran through his muscles, "It-t's okay." He bit his lip, staying strong for the others. "I'm f-fine." He forced a smile for Danny, showing that he wasn't in a life-threatening situation at all. But it didn't change the fact that he was in pain. He stayed still and made sure to keep his arm buried in his chest, hiding it from view. There were several holes from shots in his arm from a medical experiment. One of the small holes was bruising and throbbed terribly; none of the other shots had that effect though, which was good.

"I'm sorry." Danny apologized again and then slowly lowered himself down beside Klayton, wrapping his arms around him and pulling his friend into a hug. Klayton didn't pull away at all; in fact it made him happy that there was someone who cared about him.

--

(Still in Flashback)

"Hey, Danny." Klayton had his back up against a wall, with Danny resting his head on Klayton's thigh; he opened his eyes and rotated so that he could look up at Klayton.

"Yeah?"

"If Momma came to rescue you but forgot me, would you come back and get me?"

Danny knew deep down that Klayton wasn't actually his brother, but over time, they had learned to call each other 'brother'. Perhaps it was because it was comforting to think that they had family with them during these hard times, maybe it was because 'friend' didn't seem to fit the bond that they shared…he didn't know. But Klayton was closer to him than most people were, and they often referred to their mother or father as _both _of theirmother and/or father. "What do you mean? Momma wouldn't forget either of us."

"But…if she did, would you still come and get me?"

"Of course. What kind of a question is that?"

"Well…you might be so happy to be out of this place that you would forget about me. And you might not want to come back."

"Klay'." Danny sighed. "If it came to that, I promise that I would come back and get you no matter what."

Klayton smiled with relief, "and…you know I would do the same for you!"

Danny chuckled, "I know."

--

Several months if not years later, in the same building, the same cell…the same two boys were there. The difference now was that they were the _only _two boys left. It used to be that the whole hallway was filled with cells of children, but now they were the only survivors left.

Klayton had made his decision, he had told Danny before. _"I'm going to escape." _And he had yet to take back his words, he knew the chances were slim and nearly impossible, but he had put up with these experiments long enough, and was determined to leave.

_"I can't come with you," Danny had said, "We won't escape if it's the two of us. I will help you escape though." _It nearly tore his heart out to think that Klayton was leaving him, and it hurt even more to think that this was, for the most part, a suicide. Danny wrapped his arms around Klayton, giving him a last brotherly hug, knowing that this would most likely be the last time they would spend time together. _Don't forget your promise. _

"You think you can actually pull this off?" Danny asked, and received no reply; it was obvious why… Danny exhaled, feeling his blood speed up as he prepared himself. He quickly glanced down the hallway to make sure there was a guard there, then with one last encouraging glance at Klayton, Danny dropped to the floor with as loud of a crash as he could possibly make with his small body and started screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Danny!? Danny!" Klayton rushed to his side, "What's wrong!?" He brought his head up and cried, "Help! There's something wrong!"

The guard heard the cry and quickly rushed to the cell, pulling out his keys to open the door. _Damn, _the guard snarled, _the doctors made it clear that these kids have to live, don't you dare die, kid! _He knew that they were necessary to finish this job. He opened the cell and crouched down to scoop up the boy but was surprised when the kid suddenly twisted to his back and launched his foot directly into the side of the guard's head.

"Damn it!" The man growled, putting his hand to his head, "stupid kid!" He lashed his hand out and smacked the boy across the face, hearing a quiet squeal from the impact. The young boy that had just gotten smacked got up onto his feet and literally jumped at the guard, knocking him with as much force as possible, causing the man to stumble.

Danny could feel his bones ache and bruise from attacking the guy, but knew that his job wasn't done yet. The door to the cell had been left open and Danny took that opportunity to make a sprint for the door.

"Hey, stop!" The man barked, running after the child immediately, not noticing the other child.

Klayton waited several moments till Danny and the guard were out of sight, then he held up the keys he had grabbed from the guard's pocket and then left the cell, running in the _opposite _direction that Danny had gone, knowing full well that the way Danny went was not an exit from this place. "Bye, brother." Klayton muttered under his breath and took off.

Danny gasped from breath while running like a mad man across the building and into the lab, the place that he hated most of all. _I have to distract them! Just long enough for Klayton to get out. He has the keys, so he'll be able to get through the locked doors…come on Klay', you can do it! _Almost all the doctors had received news that one of the Subjects had escaped and was going berserk, and they all were coming toward the lab.

"Subject 112, stop this at once!" One of the doctors commanded.

Danny made sure to knock over as many items as he could get his hands on, knowing full well that it would make the doctors more angry and more determined to catch him. Danny suddenly felt a jerk in his foot and caused him to stumble and fall to the ground. _My foot is…_In the spare moment he was given, he glanced down at the small dart sort of object that stuck out of his ankle…_numb! _The numbness was quickly spreading through his leg, making it useless.

_Keep moving! Keep moving! _Danny narrowed his eyes and pulled himself up, forcing his body to walk forward while his numb leg dragged along with the rest of his body. _How long has it been? Is Klay' out yet? I have to keep this up for as long as possible! Please let Klay' escape! _Danny didn't know who he was asking or praying to, and he didn't care. _As long as-_

Pain suddenly coursed through Danny's body, shaking him to the bone. He released a howl of agony and fell down to all fours, waiting for it to stop.

"Unacceptable!" A voice boomed through the entire room.

Danny's ears twitched at the sound of _that _voice. He knew right away who it was.

Rafael walked right up to Danny and used his foot to kick Danny down from all fours so that he was now just lying down. "I will not accept such childish behavior here! Subject 112, what do you have to say for yourself!?"

Danny had to fight himself to not reply with respect, if it was any other time, he would bow down toward this man and respectfully accept any punishment in store for him. But no, not this time!

Still feeling the effects of that shock, Danny opened his eyes and looked up at his leader, "I…have nothing to say to _you_." He left out 'Sir' on purpose, he chose his words and tone carefully… but still didn't have time to prepare himself for the electricity that wrapped around him like a torturous blanket, his scream rang through the doctor's ears.

This time, Rafael didn't bring his finger off of the button for a good seven seconds, watching as the child writhed on the floor in pain. Danny heaved in and out, and Rafael spoke, "Care to say that again?"

No reply. Danny couldn't reply even if he wanted to, he was in pain still and couldn't bring himself to open his mouth.

"What do you think you were doing!?" Rafael demanded. "Answer me!"

Danny cringed from his tone. _Don't say anything! Don't say anything! _

"Subject 112, answer me!"

"N-no." _No Sir. _"I don't have to answer you!" _Please don't hurt me, Sir! Please! _

"I see…" He turned to his assistant doctors, "You two, this next week I expect you to teach this child some manners!" He looked coldly at Danny, "You _will _learn respect, Subject 112."

_Keep him busy! Hurry! Think of something! _"Screw you! I don't have to listen to you!" Danny snarled, reaching up to a nearby table and grabbing a glass bottle full of green liquid, "Bastard!" He threw the bottle at the man he hated more than anyone else in the world, making sure the force was strong enough to send a message. Did the bottle hit him? Did it miss? Was he hurt? Danny didn't know, because he suddenly felt a sharp sting in his neck, and realized that it was a dart just like the one on his foot. His eyes rolled back and he passed out.

It was several days later before things calmed down a bit; Danny was back in his cage…alone…

"I am the last one. All of their theories will be tested on me. This is what my life has become." Danny spoke to himself. _There was no way he could have escaped! Even with my distraction, it is impossible. I should have never let him go!_

He heard faint voices:

"You have Subject 103 in containment?"

"Yes Sir."

"Good. Keep him there. I will deal with him later."

Danny winced at those words. Both of them were doomed! He cowered in the corner as footsteps came up to his cell and the door opened.

"Up, boy!" he demanded with an acid tone.

Danny jumped to his feet, but was completely tensed up. Knowing what was coming next.

Rafael smirked at Danny, "did you really think that you're little stunt would be enough to let Subject 103 escape? My guards caught him just minutes after he got out. I admire your courage, but you know full well that it was stupid." He took a step forward, making Danny tense even more. "I have no more need for Subject 103, you are the last experiment. I am determined to complete this, and you will be the one to help me."

Danny was just about to go down on his knees and beg for Rafael to let Klayton live, but it would not only do nothing, it would also only cause punishment for Danny speaking out of term. A cold hand seemed to wrap around Danny's heart, squeezing the life out of him. _I'm going to die here…_He looked down to the floor, _I'll die, just like all those other kids did…just like Klay' did…Momma? Where are you? _

He didn't even realize that Rafael had left the room; he just stood there and bit his lip, _Momma? Why won't you come save me? Did you forget about me? _He fell down to his knees, wanting…needing to cry out his emotions, but couldn't. Crying was unacceptable in this place, Danny knew that all too well…crying was weakness, and he couldn't be weak no matter how much he _felt _weak.

"Bye…brother…" He hands balled into fists and with a scream of fury he threw his fist into the ground, feeling his bone shatter with agony, and he curled up, cradling his hand and trying to imagine that Klayton was still there with him.

-Present Time-

"K-K…_Klayton_!!"

The boy who had just been referred to as 'Klayton' grinned in reply, "Hi Danny, long time no see."

Sam recognized that name…where had she heard it before? She glanced back and forth between Danny and Keo, "What are you talking about!?" She finally exclaimed. "Danny, what's going on?"

The drumming in his ears was irritating his entire body; his heart raced within his chest, causing his breathing to deepen till they were hollow gasps for air; the trembling refused to let up, he couldn't stop shaking! _This can't possibly be happening! _"Klayton!" He said the name again, as though expecting it to be false this time. There was no mistaking that this boy replied to the name…_Is it really? _

"Mr. Fenton! Mr. Keo! I'm going to have to ask you both to take your seats." Lancer broke the silence that seemed to echo from the walls.

Neither of them listened. Their eyes were locked with each other, purple and blue. Danny couldn't convince himself otherwise, those eyes were definitely Klayton's eyes, he would recognize them anywhere.

"Danny!" Sam cried, "What the hell are you talk-"

Her sentence was cut short when Danny brought himself up to his feet so quickly that her mind barely had time to comprehend what had happened before Danny was gone from sight and then there was a loud crash on the other side of the room. Sam looked over toward where Keo had been standing, and saw that Keo was now pressed up against the wall of the classroom, with Danny holding him there. Danny had his arm brought up and had his forearm digging into Keo's throat, making it impossible for Keo to escape.

Their faces were mere inches from each other, Danny heaved in and out, but Keo seemed calm, almost _too _calm.

"Mr. Fenton! Release Mr. Keo this instant!" Lancer demanded. The air within the room seemed to tighten, making it difficult to breathe. All the students became uneasy and shifted awkwardly in their seats, unsure of what to do.

"Danny! Stop it!" Sam stood up quickly and ran toward them, "let go of him!" She nearly gasped when she saw Danny's face. He bit his bottom lip with such force that it was causing it to bleed, and tears were gathering up in the corners of his eyes. "Danny?"

"WHY!?" Danny suddenly screamed, causing nearly everyone in the room to jump with fear. "Why are you here!?"

Klayton nearly smirked from the question, "I go to school here." He casually responded.

Danny pulled his forearm away from Klayton's throat for a moment and then struck forward again with more force, making Klayton's head bash against the wall from the whip-lash. "Don't fuck with me! Answer the damn question!" His eyes narrowed. Anger, confusion, fear and pain seemed to release with each tear that fell down Danny's face. His voice became a shuttering whisper of sobs, "why…why are you…" he inhaled deeply, "WHY are you ALIVE!?"

His arm slowly slid away from Klayton's neck, "you…you're dead…He said that you were dead…"

"Are you disappointed that I'm alive?" Klayton quietly asked.

"You're dead."

"I'm right here."

"He said…"

"He lied."

"You were alive…that whole time? You escaped?" Danny paused. "Why didn't you…save me? I was still there, I was still suffering…and you didn't come back." His lively blue eyes went pale as images flashed before his eyes. All those times that he huddled in the corner alone, mourning for the death of his friend, giving up on wanting to get out, and slowly falling further and further into madness. "You never came back."

Not even turning to glance at Sam, who stood beside them in horror, Danny turned, releasing Klayton from his grip and running out of the room.

At this action, Klayton quickly apologized to Lancer and followed after his friend, closing the classroom door behind him. "Danny! Wait!" Klayton called toward Danny.

Danny slowly came to a stop, but didn't turn to face Klayton; he kept facing forward about twenty feet ahead of him, "How?"

"How what?"

"How did you escape?"

"That doesn't matter right now, Danny. Look, I'm sorry…okay?"

Danny chuckled before barking madly with laughter, "you're _sorry_!? Are you fucking kidding me!? After all this time, the only thing you can say is _sorry_!? Wow, you really are something, Klay'."

"Can you just let me explain!?"

"FINE!" Danny spun around, not bothering to hide the tears that streamed down his face, "Explain _this_!! Explain how you escaped! Explain why you never came back to save me! Explain why the hell you are here in Amity Park! Explain how you know Sam! Explain…Explain…" He choked on his sobs, unable to continue his sentence.

Klayton slowly walked up to Danny and wrapped his arms around him in a tight embrace, "I don't expect you to forgive me, brother…I just want you to understand…"

Danny's skin became cold as it remembered all the times that Klayton hugged him for comfort in that terrible place, the frozen temperature that always lingered in the air made his hair stick up, but Klayton's warmth always helped him keep away from the cold.

"I missed you, Danny."

Danny returned the hug, holding his brother so tightly, never wanting to let go again, "I missed you…too."

**A/N: So…what do you think? Be honest, please! And predictions? Questions? Let me know! I hope you enjoyed this! I did a quick review of Klayton and Danny's past, hopefully you remember him a bit from Error's Love. **


	21. Meeting Friends and Enemies

Error's Rival

Chapter 21: Meeting Friends and Enemies

For several minutes Danny clung to Klayton like a child clinging to a stuffed animal, feeling no embarrassment as he cried into Klayton's sweater. Klayton didn't pull away or even want to pull away; he still had his arms wrapped around his friend in comfort. Danny failed to notice, but Klayton did, that Sam had followed the two of them into the hallway and was standing about ten feet away, waiting patiently.

"Hey," Klayton spoke softly to Danny, "you asked why I was here, right? Heh, you do realize that you're terrible at keeping yourself a secret. News travels fast when the famous Ghost Boy is spotted. I've been trying to find you for a while now, ever since I found out that you were alive. I saw a picture of you on a website and recognized you immediately, even with a different hair and eye colour, I still knew. When I came here though, it seemed like you were already _dead_. And then I met your girlfriend, I wasn't really expecting to stay long…but things change…

"You also asked _how_ I escaped? Technically I didn't escape; I was rescued by one of the doctors there. Do you remember the woman Allison Takarra?"

Danny looked up at the mention of her name, of course he remembered her. That was the woman who had tried to save Danny and died in the process, she helped him and Sam escape from Hell's Dungeon!

"I was on my way out of the building and I ran into a doctor, he captured me and put me in containment. I thought for sure I was done for, but later that day, Allison came into my containment and told me to come with her, she hid me in her room for several days and then in the middle of the night she brought me out of the building and left me with her sister. Allison's sister, Katie, was also taking care of another child that was taken from that place. Allison saved both me and another girl; the other girl however was not in good shape… Allison came to visit us often, she would always cry after we had gone to bed and talk to her sister about wanting to leave the job…she hated it there.

"It was about a year later when he got the news that Allison had been killed. I knew that the men at that place were still searching for me because I was dangerous, so to keep Katie safe I left, and the other girl followed me as well. We've been surviving on our own ever since."

"Who's the girl that was saved?" Danny asked.

Klayton sighed before replying, "We both had to change our names for safety, mine was changed to Keo and hers was changed to Aunally…but her real name is Jezebel."

-Flashback-

Across from their cell was a cage that had little room and about a dozen locks on the door. Inside, a young girl of about five years old hugged her knees and rocked back and forth. She had been tested on the previous week. And that was one that had failed.

Her once long brown hair that was pulled into a ponytail was now a disgusting mane that hung in her face. She had dry blood all across her skin, caused by her own nails and teeth. The result of the experiment was a bloodthirsty animal, and the small girl had attacked herself unknowingly.

She refused to eat, drink, or sleep. Her time of death was closing in on her very quickly, and there was nothing anyone could do.

The guards weren't nearby. Danny crawled to the opposite side of the cell that was facing the small child's cage. He had everyone's eyes following him. He sat cross-legged on the floor and looked at the girl with his icy blue eyes.

"Hey." Danny spoke softly, "How're you feeling?" there was no reply, Danny sighed, "What's your name?"

At this, the girl's eyes met his, she had yellow glowing eyes, almost like a cat, "What do you want?" she stuttered.

"Nothing. I just want to talk."

"Why?"

"To keep you company...I know how hard this is for you...for all of us...but...I don't want to die without any friends...I've never had a friend before. And I know that you haven't either."

"I am Subject 83." She stated flatly.

"No. You're not. That is not your name. And you know it! You have a real name." Danny said.

"My name doesn't matter!"

"Yes it does! Your name is everything! It's who you are! Do you really want to be known as a Subject!?"

A tear fell from the girl's eye, "I'm afraid...I don't want to die..."

"Don't be afraid." Danny calmly spoke, "things will get better. I know it."

"How? How can you be sure?"

"Because my mom promised me. She said it would all be alright in the end." Danny smiled.

The girl weakly smiled, "Jezebel. My name is Jezebel."

"That's a nice name...my name is Danny."

"Danny...thank you...I don't think I will be seeing you after tonight."

Danny's eyes widened in horror.

"I've already been labeled for death, and they plan on getting rid of me."

"They've already labeled you!"

Jezebel nodded and tuned her back to him, sure enough, the back of her shirt was nearly torn apart which revealed a large, scabbed "X" from both shoulders to the opposite hip.

When you've been labeled with an "X," that is meaning that you are too dangerous to keep alive, and they will destroy you before you can cause any damage.

Danny bit his lip, "Jezebel...I..."

"I'm glad to have met you Danny. Even if it was only for a moment, I am grateful."

A group of footsteps came into hearing. Jezebel sighed, "here they come."

Danny gasped, "No!"

"Goodbye Danny."

The men came up to Jezebel's cage and began unlocking it, once it was open, they ushered her out while pointing guns at her in case she tried to escape.

"No!" Danny cried. He reached his arm between the bars toward her, "Jezebel!" He didn't want another innocent person to be killed!

Jezebel looked at him and in return, reached out to him. Their hands touched for a brief moment, then she was pulled away roughly. One guard gave Danny's hand a sharp kick and ordered him to get back. Danny cradled his throbbing hand and watched Jezebel be taken away.

"...Jezebel.... I won't forget you..."

-End Flashback-

"Jezebel?"

Klayton nodded.

"She survived?" Danny remembered how things were back then, friends were hard to come by during those times, but something about Jezebel seemed to make him feel at home, even if he knew her for a few precious minutes…those few minutes meant a lot to him. Danny looked up at Klayton once more, "You said that the men from _that _place were still after you because you were too dangerous…what do you mean?"

Sam, still unnoticed by Danny, narrowed her eyes at this.

Klayton turned his head, "Sam, if you want to listen in, don't try to do it in secret."

Sam turned red with embarrassment.

"Same to you, Tucker."

Tucker slowly appeared from behind a locker and walked forward with Sam. "How'd you know I was there?"

"I saw Sam standing there, and I figured that you seemed like the listening-in type, so I just assumed you were there." Klayton smirked.

Danny felt so pathetic in this situation; he turned his head away, not wanting Sam to see him cry.

"Keo…I mean, Klayton…" Sam corrected herself, "When you fought that giant ghost lizard…was that because…" She wasn't quite sure what she was trying to say, but Klayton seemed to catch on.

"It's better if I show you than tell you." Klayton released Danny from his arms, "it's okay, I won't leave." He assured his friend before taking a few steps back, "Danny…you didn't really think that you were the only one of your kind did you?" A cold sensation filled the area, making both Sam and Tucker shiver, but Danny's eyes widened at the familiar feeling. Klayton gave them a brief smile before his entire body turned intangible and phased through the floor.

"Oh my god!" Sam gasped.

"What the hell?" Tucker jumped.

Danny just stayed put, his face showed all the surprise it needed to. "No…way…"

"Surprised?" Klayton phased back, "I can do more but I don't think that throwing ghost beams in the hallway is such a good idea."

"You mean that you're just like Danny?" Sam asked.

"Are you forgetting, Sam, that Danny and I were being tested by the same freak? The tests were very similar for both of us, so yes, I'm very much like Danny."

"Actually, _yes_ I keep forgetting that detail considering that I just learned about it three minutes ago!"

"Danny," Klayton softly said, "do you have any other questions?"

Danny shook his head slowly, still staring at Klayton with shock from all the new information.

"Keo! I have a question!" Sam barked, "I mean Klayton! Care to tell me why you weren't at school on time? Did you know that Danny was there?"

Klayton laughed at this, "of course I knew! You know Danny's power right? We can sense other ghosts around us! You actually believed me when I said that I had an MP3 that detected ghosts? I don't have that; I only have my ghost sense to guide me. I just had to come up with an excuse… but to answer your question…I wasn't exactly in the best of conditions the past few days…"

"What do you mean?"

-A few days earlier-

_Down a dark alley, where the sun couldn't touch even if it wanted to, a form was lying horizontal to the ground, leaning up against the brick wall near him. It was such a beautiful day, however, he wasn't able to enjoy it with the condition he was in. Sweat gleamed against his pale skin, his chest going up and down rapidly as he took in deep breaths of air. _

"Brother?" A gentle voice called out.

Keo gritted his teeth with fury and looked over to where his sister was poking her head out of the door to their apartment. Her eyes were closed, as they often were, but she glanced around as if expecting to find him. She waited for his response, shrinking down in fear when there was no reply.

"Brother, are you there?"

"Goddamn it!" Keo hissed, bringing his hand into a fist. Finally, he focused on raising his voice, trying to sound natural while he spoke, "It's alright, Aunally! I'm over here, I'm fine…just go back inside, I'll be back in a minute!"

The corners of Aunally's lips pulled lightly into a smile when she heard her brother's voice; she gave a quick nod in response and retreated back into their home. Leaving Keo to himself once again.

"Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!" Keo rolled over onto his stomach and drove his fist into the cement beneath him, as though hoping it might make him better. "I used too much energy! I'm so stupid!" He let his head fall down to rest on his fist that now had blood running down his knuckles. "I can't let Aunally worry…"

Keo had nothing to grab onto in order to help himself up, so he ended up pulling his knees up beneath him like an inchworm, looking ridiculous as he slowly worked his body up till he was kneeling, and from there things were easier to get to his feet. Keo wobbled a bit once he was standing, but he managed to mask how he was feeling and made his way toward where his sister waited for him. "Only a few days…a few days till school starts up again…" he thought of Sam and the promise he made to her, "Was it stupid to agree to that?" He shook his head. "Oh well, no taking it back now."

"The only thing I can really do is hope that she'll accept everything."

-Current Time-

Klayton looked at Sam and then at Danny, "Well…I…uh…I'm not sure how to explain it…I realized that Danny was in town again, and I also realized that he was not in great shape, so I helped out a bit. Long distance energy transfer is actually much harder than most people realize! You have no idea!" He laughed, but no one else seemed to understand him, so he put it into other words, "I helped Danny get better by giving him my own energy."

"You can do that!?" Both Sam and Tucker asked eagerly.

Klayton nodded, "I can transfer both ghost energy and human energy, but giving my own energy is quite hard, so I was really weak for several days. This morning I was still resting, but I'm doing much better now."

Danny's eyes widened, "so that's why I healed so fast? You were helping?"

"Yeah."

It was silent for a moment as their minds all wrapped around the new information. In his head, Danny was thinking to himself: _An energy transfer, just like Venom was able to do at Hell's Dungeon and what my aunt was able to do when I was trying to get back home, Klay' can do it too? _Danny couldn't remember a time when he was able to do that with his powers. He had taken away wounds from others but only when he was physically touching them…and Danny couldn't help but feel weaker than the others.

"Klay'? Can…" Danny hesitated, "Can I visit Jezebel? I…just want to see how she's doing."

--

"Brother?" The girl, known as Aunally, previously named Jezebel, peeked around the corner of the wall toward the entrance of the apartment, "is that you?" Her appearance was a mess; her spine was awkwardly twisted so that she hunched over and her brown hair came down past her waist, her skin was very pale and she had such a thin body it was almost scary. Her eyes were completely closed, so she couldn't see who had arrived.

"Yeah, it's me." Klayton quietly spoke to her, "Remember when I told you about my friends a little while ago? Well, I brought them home with me today so you could meet them."

Jezebel's mouth pulled up into a bright smile, "really!?" She allowed herself to come out completely from behind the wall and took a shaking step forward.

Klayton came forward and grabbed Jezebel by the shoulders, slowly walking her toward the group of people inside, "This is Tucker."

Jezebel put her hands forward and lightly traced the lines of Tucker's face with her hands, running them along his glasses and even was able to notice that he had a hat on. She was then introduced to Sam, and did the same as she did with Tucker.

"And…this is Danny."

There was a pause in the room before Jezebel put her hands out to the boy in front of her, she seemed to take her time running her hands across Danny's face and then brought her hands up to his messy hair, and she let out a sharp gasp when her hand brushed against the back of his neck where there was a large scarred scab where his Chip was located.

"Hi…Jezebel…" Danny whispered a greeting.

When he spoke, Jezebel slowly opened her eyes. Those bright yellow cat-like eyes stared at Danny, even though her vision was near blind, she was able to see Danny's hair and eye colour vaguely, "It…_is_ you…isn't it?"

Danny chuckled, "I'm surprised you remember." He was even more surprised when Jezebel wrapped her arms around him.

"You escaped?"

Danny nodded "yeah, I did."

"I didn't think I would ever see you again."

"Same here."

Both Klayton and Sam watched as the two reunited, but Tucker was staring at the clock on the wall and quietly muttered to himself "we're supposed to be in class…" However, he was unheard by all the others.

"Jezebel, how did you get out?"

"The nice woman saved me. Even though she was supposed to kill me that day because my condition was getting worse and worse, she saved me! I was so happy when she got me out of there. And then I met brother!" She beamed.

Klayton gave a short laugh at the look he got from Sam and Tucker, "we're not actually siblings. But she started calling me brother and she's called me that ever since." Klayton then looked at the time; "well…it's sort of lunch time, who wants to eat?"

--

Later that week, Klayton was lying down on his bed staring blankly at the ceiling when a cold feeling shot through him causing him to flinch in an almost seizing way. "What the hell?" He whispered to himself. He knew right away that it was a ghost, but it was much stronger than most ghosts he had fought in the past. Quietly, making sure that he didn't wake up Jezebel, he left the apartment, and started running toward where he felt the ghostly energy. While running, he pulled the sleeve up on his arm where the metal weapon was attached and started moving some things around to get it ready for a battle.

It was the middle of the night, so most people were asleep, which was good because otherwise things got difficult when there were people around. As he neared his destination, he was shocked when he saw three others running the same way. "Danny? Sam? Tucker?"

"Klay'? What're you doing here?" Danny asked, holding a large ecto gun at his side. Sam had a much smaller gun and a belt with several different weapons. Tucker had, what _looked _like brass knuckles, but probably did something more than that, Klayton assumed.

"I sensed a ghost. You?"

"The Fentons have things that sense ghosts throughout Amity Park, so I called Sam and she called Tucker and we headed over right away."

Klayton rolled his eyes, "just don't get in my way…and don't get hurt."

"I'm guessing that last bit was directed at me huh?" Sam snapped.

"Possibly." Klayton grinned. He then felt another cold wave run along his spine, "this is a tough one though, be careful." He started running again, but stopped suddenly, "wait…it's here."

All four of them stood still, waiting for a sign of the ghost's presence.

"Move!" Klayton immediately dropped down and used his leg to trip all three of the others just as a green beam went through where they had been standing. He steadied his right weapon arm with his left hand and began rapidly firing ectoblasts.

They all heard a cackling laugh echo around them. The four of them stood up, each of them holding up their weapons. "Too easy!" A voice cried out and then blasts seemed to come from every angle at them, making it impossible to get away.

Klayton growled, "Damn it!" and raised both his arms above him, creating a large ectoplasmic dome around all of them, which caused the blasts to dissolve into nothing. Klayton released the dome once the attacks stopped and focused on getting his weapon ready again. _If I don't have to, I won't use my ghost powers! _He promised himself.

Danny narrowed his eyes. "show yourself!" He snarled.

"You better start running or I'll catch you!" The voice of the ghost responded.

"This isn't a game!"

More laughing now, "well not _yet_."

"I'm getting tired of this," Klayton growled. "Alright that's it!" He closed his eyes tightly and reached down into the core of his body, feeling the ghostly chills run through his veins, and then focused on sensing the creature around them. "There!" He aimed and fired with unnatural speed, managing to strike their opponent.

A wail like cry rang through the air as a young boy fell to the ground about twenty feet away. "That's not nice ya guys!" It stood up with no actual damage to its body.

"What the hell are you!?" Danny demanded.

The young boy in front of them looked to be younger than a teenager, he had long pointed ears sticking out of his head, two fangs stuck out of his mouth, cat-like whiskers came out of his cheeks and he had neon green hair that came down past his neck. The boy had razor sharp claws as hands and knife-like weapons coming out of his forearms. Long spikes emerged from his spine, sticking straight out about a foot, and skin was growing between each spike, and veins could be seen within the paper-like skin. Its ankles were built very strangely, with less heel and longer toes, which also matched his hands with their talon-structure.

"My name is Pyrros!" The young boy exclaimed proudly, creating a bright ball of ectoplasm with each of his hands, "Nice ta meetcha!"

A/N: Woohoo! I've been excited to add Pyrros in here!

I wanted to make an announcement that I won't have time to work on the new chapter for several weeks, I'm going to be going on vacation with some friends tomorrow. I'm very sorry! But I hope they you will enjoy this chapter! I'll post the next one hopefully soon after I return. Thanks so much!


	22. Game On!

Error's Rival

Chapter 22: Game On!

"Come on!" Pyrros jumped ten feet into the air and hovered there, looking down at the four below him, "the game is no fun if you don't play!" He did a little flip in the air before diving straight down toward them with a grin, "I'm it!"

_What is that? _Sam cried.

In response, Noella, Danny's ghost aunt, replied to Sam in her mind, "It's not human. Another experiment…like Danny."

Sam gasped, "Another experiment!" She whispered with a hiss of disgust. _Rafael again!?_

"I'm afraid so."

Sam turned to Danny, "Danny! He's-"

"I know. This is the work of that bastard."

"What the hell is up with this kid!?" Klayton growled while he jumped away to avoid being hit by the boy. "What the hell do you want!?" He barked, firing another round at the child who was doing what looked like gymnastic jumps back and forth above them to dodge Klayton's attack.

"Play! Let's play!" Pyrros chuckled; he pointed a finger towards them and charged up a ball of ectoplasm before releasing it. The ball sparked with green energy, static sounds could be heard from it. Klayton leaped into the air and with his metallic coated arm reached forward and caught the ball in midair. Grunting and gritting his teeth from the force, Klayton tried to push it in the other direction.

"Damn it! Damn it!" Klayton's eyes widened with the ball of energy suddenly had green tentacle-like arms reach out of it and wrap around his hand, slowly starting to slither its way up his arm. "What the fuck is this thing!"

"Careful." Pyrros spoke with a taunting tone. He leaned back in the air with his arms crossed in front of him, clearly enjoying the show. "Don't let it touch your skin." With another laugh, he sped toward his next victim. "And who might you be?"

"Stay away from them!" Danny came forward in front of Sam and Tucker, aiming the ectogun at the animal-like boy.

"Heheh! This'll be fun!" Pyrros smirked.

"Sam," Danny said quietly, "Step back."

"No! Danny I won't-"

"Now!" Danny lashed his arm back at Sam and threw her down to the ground.

Gaping in confusion and tears building in her eyes, Sam looked up at Danny. _He…pushed me? Why would he push me!? _

Danny didn't look at Sam but if he had she would see that he was biting his lip to the point that blood seeped out, and a drop of water filled the corner of his eye. _Sorry, but I can't get you involved again. Not against one such as this. I won't let you be in the line of fire. _He reached into his back pocket, pulling out a small gun and a two inch long rod.

"Weehee!" The creature squealed with glee, "We gunna fight, huh? Cool! Can I go first, huh? Can I!?" His smile widened, "I'll take that as a yes!"

Human's senses are like a baby, they can't follow anything fast whatsoever. Salmon and penguins can know the way back to their birth place easily with their sense of direction; hawks can spot mice in a field of straw and hay, and animals can sense an earthquake before it occurs. People however can't do anything, they can't react fast enough, and they don't know that something is going to happen, they're all helpless.

Danny had felt helpless before, but all of those times he had supernatural senses and strength…now? He was still half human, but with no abilities beyond that of a regular human. He was weak.

The attack came before Danny even realized the creature had moved. He was sent into the air and was falling before he even felt the snap of his rib. The second attack was given while Danny was still falling; a strong kick was delivered from above to his gut, making him plummet faster. The wind was forced from his lungs moments before the ground gave him a terrible welcoming. Dirt sprayed around him from the impact.

Sam screamed, "Danny!" and jumped to her feet.

"Stay there!" Danny roared in her direction, causing her to freeze in her tracks. "Don't come-" a cry erupted from Danny when the _thing _appeared over him and delivered another powerful kick to Danny's ribs.

"You're really weak, aint ya, brother." The creature said while standing next to Danny.

"W-what? _Brother_?" He coughed in pain, clutching his ribs. He didn't have a fast healing ability, the pain wasn't leaving, in fact it only got worse.

"Or do ya prefer Bro? Or I could always call ya Subject 112."

Danny's eyes widened with horror and fury.

A scream erupted from the distance.

"Klayton!" Sam cried.

Everyone turned their attention to the teen that fell from the air and was now on his back. The tentacles had traveled up his arm and were now clinging to his face and neck, but the disgusting limbs didn't stop there, they continued to work their way around him. Klayton's eyes were clamped shut and he grit his teeth to hold back a scream.

"I told ya not to let 'em touch your skin."

"Get the hell off me!" Klayton snarled, tugging uselessly at his attacker. Everywhere that the tentacles touched, his skin burned and itched like no other. It was only getting worse as time progressed.

"Go help him!" Danny barked at Sam and Tucker. Sam's eyes widened slightly and opened her mouth to decline, but she then looked over at her hurt friend.

Tucker saw the way Sam looked hurt over his request of leaving him to get help Klayton. "Sam, don't worry, I'll go help Klayton, you can stay with Danny. Help him any way you can."

Sam nodded and Tucker took off.

_Bang! _

Danny whipped out the gun and shot toward the creature in the blink of an eye. His eyes widened when he saw that the creature was not hurt, and what was more he held the glowing green bullet in his claws.

"Well that aint nice bro." He grinned and flicked the bullet away like a pebble.

"Did Rafael send you!?" Danny snarled.

"Who?"

"Who sent you!?"

"Oh, Father sent me."

Danny's heart stopped for a moment; the way he so easily said that Rafael was a father was sickening. He already knew that Rafael sent this thing! He wasn't sure why he asked, maybe he just wanted a confirmation or something, either way, it was obvious.

"Father told me ta kill everyone except for you and that girl, and then bring you two to him." He pointed to Sam and cackled with laughter, "father has good taste. She's quite – whoa!" He held up an arm to block the oncoming attack.

Danny was on his feet, a glowing green light saber weapon in his hand and the creature was now blocking it. Danny's eyebrows were pulled together; his body was trembling with hatred, "try to say that one more time!" He snarled.

"Take it easy, brother, it was a compliment." The creature looked so sincere with worry as he said those words.

"Who _are_ you?"

"Aw, right! Forgot to introduce myself! I'm subject 214, but father calls me Pyrros."

"How long have you been a subject?" Danny still trembled with fury while both he and this creature held their fighting pose, neither of them pulled away.

"A little while, father has taken good care of me, he says that I'll help him achieve his goal!" Pyrros exclaimed with excitement.

"So why don't you leave!" Danny's arms convulsed from holding the ecto-saber against Pyrros, "why, if you're so strong, don't you escape!?"

"I wanna help father!"

"Stop calling him that!" Danny threw all his strength into the weapon, and Pyrros jumped back even though there was no damage inflicted on him, "he's a fucking monster! A goddamn freak that doesn't care about anyone except himself!"

"Don't talk about father like that, bro." Pyrros pouted, "he's been nice ta me."

"He created you to do his dirty work! All he ever says are lies! He's a murdering thief! You can't call him a father!" Danny didn't realize that tears ran down his face, "he's not a father!" He screamed, "If _I _can't call him a father, then you can't either!" Danny jumped forward, swinging the ectosaber over his head and brought it down on Pyrros, giving a battle cry filled with rage.

Pyrros easily blocked the attack with his hand. Danny pulled back and struck again, aiming to the left this time, no luck. For a few moments, he attacked Pyrros in hope to injure him, but failed.

Once more, Danny struck, but this time, he pulled a second saber out with his other hand and attempted to pierce him with that.

Pyrros's free hand reacted to Danny's attack and grabbed onto his wrist.

Danny's body froze in horror from Pyrros's touch, his skin crawled uncomfortably and the cold bit at him. His eyes widened as words and pictures flooded his mind…but these weren't Pyrros's thoughts, feelings or memories. Danny could tell right away.

"Danny!" Sam screamed, she didn't know what he was doing, but he looked like he was in a trance.

Danny blinked several times and jumped away from Pyrros, falling to one knee in exhaustion. "You bastard, Rafael!" He snarled, heaving in and out while tears continued to roll down his face. "Damn it!" He stood up unsteadily. "Now I get it, now I get why you're so different from all the other subjects! Rafael didn't create you from a human body; in fact you are made completely of ectoplasm!"

Pyrros tilted his head in confusion.

"What I just saw, what you see all the time, you don't remember doing any of that, do you? Those strange thoughts in your head, that constant battle inside yourself…" Danny raised the ecto-saber, "Rafael used another soul to feed you life! He used Allison!!!" Growling like an animal, Danny attacked again, ignoring the constant throb of pain in his ribs, and all over his body!

Sam narrowed her eyes in confusion, even from so far away, she could hear Danny. Rafael used Allison's soul to put inside Pyrros? To feed him life? But if he was dead, why did he need life? Sam's mouth opened a little in realization, he was never dead, and he was never alive either. Danny said he was made completely of ectoplasm, so…Sam concluded in her mind; Pyrros was given Allison's soul in order to 'live'.

Rather than her _spirit, _Pyrros had her soul, which is why Pyrros didn't act like Allison; he was only using her soul as a source of energy.

Danny smirked at Pyrros's confused expression, while still trembling horribly with hatred. "_Father _didn't mention this, did he?"

Pyrros pulled his lips into a grin, "Of course he did! Father wouldn't lie ta me! I'll prove it to ya! I'll prove that father _does_ care about me. But ta do that, I need to do what father asked me ta do!"

--

"Klayton! Stop struggling! I'm trying to get it off!" Tucker growled, he held onto Klayton's arm that had not yet been covered by the strange limbs. He folded his fingers into a fist, feeling the brass-knuckles tighten and then punched at Klayton's other arm which was completely taken over by the monster.

The strange creature thing that had grabbed Klayton seemed to recoil from the punch.

"Alright, so it can feel pain. Is it alive?" Tucker observed. _Who knows, but I have to get it off!_

He continued to attack the monster, but after a minute, he noticed something strange. Klayton was no longer writhing around; he was now laying still, his eyes staring into nothing.

"Klayton? Are you okay? Answer me!" Tucker bit her lip, "Damn it!" Tucker began punching at the monster everywhere he possibly could while avoiding hitting Klayton. "Get off of him! Klayton, wake up!" He didn't know if he was asleep or unconscious or something else, but his heart was beating faster than it should with fear that they were going to lose him.

"…S-Stay back…" Klayton moaned.

Tucker raised an eyebrow, "what?"

"Get away from me! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Danny! I'm sorry!"

"Klayton!?" Tucker inquired. _What is this thing doing to him!? _Tucker growled, "It won't come off!"

The tentacles were inching down Klayton's chest and over onto his other shoulder, it wouldn't be long before it was over his entire body.

--

The air began to grow heavy, the temperature began to rise. Pyrros's green hair slowly became black, and his eyes closed for a brief moment before they reopened, a scorching copper colour had taken its place. Fire swallowed up his dinosaur-like spine, leaving just a mass of flame erupting from his back. Flames traveled from his fingertips all the way up his arms.

Danny back up several feet in horror.

"My name aint Pyrros for nothin'!" He laughed.

_Not good! _"Sam! Run! Gah!" A whirlwind of flames wrapped around Danny like a blanket, he fell to the ground on all fours before collapsing completely on his side, slashing uselessly at the fire that licked his skin agonizingly. Danny instinctively wrapped his arms around his head and brought his knees up to his chest in hope that his arms and legs would keep the flames from getting the rest of him.

Sam screamed in horror while a huge dome of orange and red surrounded Danny, she looked toward Pyrros who was grinning wildly at the scene before him. "Please stop!" She begged, and with tears in her eyes she ran forward at the young boy, holding up her gun and firing like a madman. "Stop it!"

Not only could Danny feel his skin frying, all of the air around him was sucked up by the flames, making it impossible for him to breathe. He couldn't scream or cry for help, he tried to inhale but couldn't, his vision began to blur slightly as he began to lose consciousness. He could hear Sam screaming. _Sam! Don't let him hurt you! Run! _

Pyrros jumped into the air, laughing at Sam's attempt to bring him down. "Don't worry, girl, you're next! And don't worry about him either; he won't die. I control the flames, and Father wouldn't appreciate if brother died, but that doesn't mean I can't roast him a little."

"Danny!"

--

"Klayton, hang on!" Tucker reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small metallic ball. _Danny gave these to me before we got here, I'm not completely sure how they work…but…_ There were two small buttons on opposite sides of the sphere, Tucker quickly clicked both the buttons and placed it on top of Klayton's arm where the majority of the creature was taking over.

It only took three seconds before the ball exploded, giving off a bright green light in the process. Tucker held his arms up to protect himself but felt nothing. He forgot that most of their weapons only hurt ghosts and did nothing to humans. The ghost creature on Klayton's arm gave a high pitched squeal and began to shrivel up with pain.

Tucker quickly took the chance to grab the monster and rip it off of Klayton's body, throwing it several feet away so that it didn't have a chance to grab Klayton again. "Klayton! Are you okay!?"

"Idiot!!" Klayton heaved in and out, "You are _so _lucky that that freak was on top of me! Otherwise that freaking bomb could've really done some damage!"

"Huh?"

"I'm part ghost too you bastard! Those things affect me too!"

"Oh, oops."

"_Oops_!? That's all you can say!? I swear to god, I will-"

"Danny!" Sam's voice echoed, both Tucker and Klayton heard it and reacted.

"Klayton," Tucker spoke quickly, "can you move?"

"Psh! I can _always_ move! That kinda thing isn't gonna kill me!" He stood up and the two of them took off running toward their friends.

Tucker wasn't so certain, he was a little worried about what that thing did to Klayton. It made him act different. He recalled that Klayton had said "I'm sorry" repeatedly, as though he was seeing or feeling something. What had happened?

"Come on, Tuck'!" Klayton yelled, pulling the sleeve on his arm up to reveal his weapon again. "Time to get serious!"

--

Pyrros smirked and charged at Sam, catching her off guard and wrapped his fingers around her neck, then used the force of the leap to pin Sam down to the ground. She opened her mouth and fought for air but Pyrros would not allow it, he was too strong for her. Baring his fangs at her with a grin, Pyrros gently stroked her cheek with his free hand while still choking her, "it's a pity. I don't know what Father wants with you, but I hope he doesn't have to kill you, you have such a beautiful face." The fire on his body seemed to not hurt her because Pyrros was in control of the fire.

Sam grit her teeth, wanting nothing more than to smack his hand away and punch him. _Get off me! _

"Hey! Kid!" A voice barked, and a moment later Pyrros let out a cry when he was hit in the head with a large green blast and thrown back several feet. "Get your fucking hands off of her!" Klayton spat.

Sam coughed heavily and gasped for breath. Tucker dropped down to one knee beside Sam and put a hand on her shoulder, "you okay?"

Sam nodded lightly.

Klayton gave Sam a light smile before running toward Danny. "Let him go!" Klayton fired another round at Pyrros while he was still recovering from the previous hit. "Now!"

For the first time ever, Sam noticed that Klayton looked and sounded worried, really worried.

"He's not dead!" Pyrros snarled, as though expecting that would make things all right.

"Let him _go_!" Klayton demanded again, this time grabbing something from his pocket and throwing it at the boy with great speed. The thing he threw was a small two inch rod that was pointed on the end; it immediately dug into Pyrros's arm and latched itself in his skin.

The thing in his arm immediately let off a high amount of electricity, making Pyrros cry out and arch his back with pain, clenching his hands and willing for it to stop.

Ectoenergy visibly surrounded Klayton while he allowed his powers to leak out of his body with fury.

While Pyrros was in pain, the fire surrounding Danny slowly began to decrease.

"Danny!" Sam stood up and jogged over toward him, "Hold on, we'll get you out!" She called to him.

Klayton was glowing dangerously with energy and walked up to Pyrros who remained on the ground; he looked down at him before reaching down and picking Pyrros up by the throat. "If you value your life at all, release Danny!" He snarled.

Pyrros's teeth were grit with pain and anger, "okay okay! Please don't kill me! I can't let Father down!"

"I don't give a damn what _you _want! I swear I _will _kill you unless you do what I say!"

Sam could hear Klayton's words and felt slightly frightened, he sounded so serious and terrifying with his words.

The fire around Danny vanished. Danny was curled up on the grass, which was now dead and black around him, his skin was severely burned but he was still alive. Pyrros had been right; he controlled the flames enough so that it didn't kill Danny.

"Hang on, Danny! Just hang on!" Sam knelt down beside him, making sure not to touch him knowing that it would be extremely painful for him. "You're going to be okay."

Klayton glared hatefully at Pyrros before dropping him to the ground, "get out of here before I decide to kill you anyway!!"

Pyrros looked at Klayton, horrified, and then immediately took flight and vanished from sight without another word.

"How is he?" Klayton and Tucker ran toward Danny.

"I don't know." Sam replied.

They all noticed that tears ran down Danny's face, and all of them faintly heard him sob "Allison…I didn't…get to save you….I'm sorry…"

Klayton raised an eyebrow, "Sam, what's he talking about?"

Sam shook her head in response, "I'll tell you later." She also couldn't help but let a few tears drop. They had made a promise to Allison long ago that they would save her and all of the children souls from that damn building, but now Allison was gone. They failed to keep their promise. _We have to save the rest of them; Rafael might try something else soon. We can't let him get away with this._

"Sam, stand back a bit." Klayton came forward and knelt down beside Danny, "Hold still for a sec." He placed his hands on Danny, making Danny wince slightly, but then through the space of about two minutes, the burns had healed for the most part.

Sam gaped with surprise, "oh my god, Klayton! You… Klayton?"

Klayton's eyes rolled back and he collapsed from exhaustion.

--

"You idiot, Klay'!" Danny growled at his friend, who now laid face-up on the grass field, "you could've killed yourself. You have limits you know! Healing someone is _not_ easy! That was stupid!"

"Hey, if you hadn't gotten hurt I wouldn't have had to heal you! Besides, what are you complaining about? You're all better, I'm perfectly fine, everything alright, right?"

At this, Danny looked away, "yeah…things are…fine…"

"Alright, what the hell happened with that stupid fire kid? You mentioned something about Allison, did something happen?"

"No. Just drop it."

"That just makes me more curious."

"Just drop it, Klay', alright!?"

"Alright alright, fine!" Klayton smirked, "whatever you say."

Sam sat a little ways away from the boys and was having a conversation of her own with someone else. _Do you know anything about when this happened with Allison? _

"I'm afraid not." Noella replied. "I'm sorry that this had to happen. If I had known I would've told you and Danny."

_It's alright, there's nothing we can do about it now. _

"Don't try anything reckless, Sam. I understand that you want to get revenge for Allison's life, but just remember that revenge is just an endless circle of anger. Nothing good ever comes from it."

_I know that. Thanks, Noella, for everything that you've helped us with. _

"I just wish I could be more help sometimes." Noella broke off the contact between her and Sam, ending their conversation.

Tucker had fallen asleep while they were waiting for Klayton to wake up. As it got later, all of them had somehow managed to fall asleep on the grass field. Sam kept warm by snuggling up close to Danny, he was almost completely healed, and Sam had Klayton to thank for that.

_I understand that revenge can easily backfire and turn ugly. But I can never forgive Rafael for all that he's done. I won't just do nothing. _We _won't just do nothing. I know that Danny will want to go save those kids just as I want to. But…after this fight with Pyrros, I realize that…maybe we're not ready to face Rafael yet. He still has powerful forces on his side. But also, if we don't act quickly, he'll get even more power. Danny, _Sam looked at his sleeping face, _what do you think we should do? _

**A/N: Alrighty then! Sorry that you had to wait so long for this chapter! It's been so hot lately that I've been spending most of my time at the lake and stuff. Please let me know what you think of Pyrros and tell me any predictions or thoughts you might have! Thanks!**


	23. In the Distance

Error's Rival

Chapter 23: In the Distance

A/N: So if anything was confusing about the last chapter please let me know. And I understand that the bit with Pyrros was a bit confusing, the reason why Danny was so mad was because Rafael used Allison's soul to fuel Pyrros' body, sort of like a battery. I mentioned that Pyrros is made completely of ectoplasm, so he's not necessarily human, which is why he needed a soul in order to think, breathe, move and so forth. Danny figured this out when he grabbed onto Pyrros and had a bunch of images fill his head, he knew that they were Allison's memories. Anyway, I hope that this cleared some things up. Again, let me know if anything is confusing you! Now on with the story!

Danny sat at the wooden table, staring blankly at the wall while tapping the eraser of his pencil against the wood over and over again. Sam sat on the other side of the table, focused on her book while taking notes. Tucker, next to Sam, was in his own world, tapping away on his PDA. Klayton sat next to Danny, checking every inch of his arm weapon to make sure everything was good to go. Aunally, also known as Jezebel sat next to her 'brother' Klayton, leaning against his shoulder while she rested.

Sam looked up at Danny, "That sound is getting annoying."

Danny sighed, "I'm sorry, I can't concentrate on homework at a time like this!" He bit his lip angrily, "we don't know when that freak Pyrros will show up again! And if he does…I want us to be prepared! We barely got out of that last time!"

"You mean _you _barely got out of it." Klayton cut in, smirking slightly.

"It's not funny, Klay'! And you shouldn't be talking; it was Tucker that got you away from that thing!"

Klayton winced at the memory, "yeah yeah sure. Anyway, next time that dude shows up, we'll beat him like we did the other day! No problemo!"

"It is a problem_o_! What if next time, Rafael comes with him!?" Danny and Klayton were the only ones in the room to suddenly have a chill run down their spine. Sam had encountered Rafael before, but never had the same experience as those two boys did.

It suddenly became very quiet among the group of friends. Until Klayton spoke in a whisper, not looking at Danny, "hey…I have been wondering for a while now…um, you know how Allison got me out of that place and everything, well I overheard her talking to her sister one day at her house…about Rafael…and you…"

"Y-yeah?" Danny stuttered, afraid that he knew what this was about. Of course Allison had known, she worked for Rafael.

"Is it true that…" Klayton looked at Danny before looking back down, "never mind, it's crazy."

"Yes. It's true that I'm Rafael's son." Danny grit his teeth so hard that a creaking could be heard, his knuckles turned white as he clenched his fists. "It's true." The pencil in his hand snapped into two pieces and fell to the ground.

Both Sam and Tucker's heads shot up, eyes wide at this new information. "W-what!?" Sam gasped, "Danny, are you serious!?"

He nodded reluctantly. "I found out a little while ago, when we were both there. I'm sorry I didn't tell you." Sam stood up and walked around the table to him where she wrapped her arms around him tightly, not knowing the right words to say at the moment.

Klayton suddenly looked up and his eyes narrowed, "hey, I'll be right back." He gently got up and made sure that Jezebel was still comfortable, and then he left without another word. Once outside of the apartment, he glanced in both directions before jumping into the air, clenching his fists in case he needed to get violent. _What is this? _He could feel a tight pressure; no one else felt it so it must've been ghost related. He went high enough above everything so that he was out of sight and also so that he could scan over the entire city.

Suddenly, a voice echoed all around him. _I am a messenger; I am not here to fight you. _A female voice gently spoke. 

Klayton grit his teeth, "show yourself!" He couldn't detect where the voice came from.

_I am not here to fight you. _It repeated, and then continued, _Please leave now, leave your friends here and leave, it is for the best. _

"Why should I trust you!?"

_Leave now. _It ignored his question. _While you still can. You know the risks of being around them; you know the past; leave now. _

"Get away!" Klayton growled, twisting around in all directions, searching for the woman. "Leave me alone!"

_I am merely giving you a warning. It is your choice whether to listen or not. But you know what will happen if you stay. _

Klayton's eyes were wide with horror; he fought to keep from screaming his head off, "no! No! It's not true! I'll make sure nothing happens!" He knew that his words were meaningless. Klayton grabbed his head with his hands, willing for the images to go away. "Danny, I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please forgive me!" He glared, "go away! Please!"

The messenger gave a small sigh before Klayton felt its presence vanish completely.

"You're wrong! I won't let that happen!" He promised himself, "Whoever you are, you're wrong!" He barked at the already gone messenger.

--

Immediately as Klayton left, Danny had a pang of worry shoot through him, _is he leaving because of what I just said? Is he angry? _

"Don't worry, Danny." Jezebel smiled, her eyes were closed but she seemed to look at him with her features, "brother's not angry. I can tell."

Danny chuckled, "what, are you a mind reader now?"

Jezebel smiled, "I heard your breathing, and you sounded nervous when brother left."

Tucker was the one to talk this time, "holy crap, girl! You can hear his breathing speed up!? How'd your hearing get so freaking awesome?"

Both Danny and Sam shot a glare at Tucker.

"I can't see well," Jezebel lowered her voice in an almost shy way, "but I can hear and feel things really well."

Sam grabbed a spoon from the table and threw it at Tucker, hitting him between the eyes, mouthing "idiot" as well. Sam didn't want to bring up a touchy subject with Jezebel, she of course didn't know much, but Jezebel's past was not something she would push at. Tucker let out a little cry when the spoon nailed him, and rubbed the sore spot, but didn't say anything of it.

"I wonder where brother went though." Jezebel bit her lip. "I don't like it when he leaves. Sometimes he doesn't come back for days! A few times he'll leave for weeks."

Sam tilted her head, "where does he go all the time?"

"To fight different ghosts, he keeps me safe from all of them." Jezebel smiled, "I'm lucky to have him as a brother. It helps that _he_ has such a great brother to look up to!" She nodded toward Danny with a grin, which made Danny smile in return. "Brother really missed you, you know. He was always really sad that you weren't able to get out with him. Allison said that she would try and get you out though."

Danny winced at that. He remembered all too well the time that Allison tried to protect him, she was so reluctant to let Rafael continue, and ended up dying in the process. _Allison…_her name brought a heavy lump to his throat, _I wasn't able to save you in time. I wasn't able to keep my promise to you, but I swear I will save the other souls. I still haven't told Klayton that Allison is gone; he doesn't know what happened with Allison and Pyrros. He has a right to know, Allison was the one who saved his life. _Danny shook his head, "damn." He stood up and started walking toward the door, turning his head quickly to hide the water built up in his eyes. _I have to save them. _

"Danny! Where are you going?" Sam stood up and grabbed his hand to stop him. "What's going on?"

"Sam, we need to keep that freak from creating anything like Pyrros again. There are still tons of souls there that he can use and I can't allow that. I have to go now. The longer I wait…who knows what could happen."

"Danny, wherever you go, I'm going to follow; you should know that by now!"

"Sam! Did you not just hear me? I'm talking about _that_ place!"

"I know. I understand Danny, and if you remember correctly I was there when you made that promise to Allison! I know you hate when I get involved, but guess what!? I'm involved! I'm involved in _your _life as well as the lives of those people still there; I owe those souls as well as you do. They helped us escape. Remember?"

"Yeah."

"So I'll help in any way I can."

Danny bit his lip and suddenly threw himself at Sam, hugging her tightly and kissed her. "I'm afraid." He whispered.

"Me too."

Tucker coughed loudly, getting their attention. "I'm not out of the loop, am I? I get to come too, right?" He gave a little smile, "the more the better, right?"

Danny chuckled, "whatever, just don't get in my way." He grinned at his friend.

Jezebel stood up and walked over to them, giving them each a hug, "good luck." She knew what it was they were talking about, it was easily caught on. "When brother gets back, I'll tell him what happened."

"Thanks."

--

It was late that night; Danny and Sam were on top of Fenton Works, staring at the stars above them. They both lay on their backs, enjoying the peaceful quiet.

Sam reached up to her neck and touched the orb on the necklace, "do you remember, Danny, that night when you gave this to me?"

He didn't even have to look at what she was holding to know what she was talking about, "of course I do."

"Do you think that it'll ever glow again?"

Danny closed his eyes before replying, "I would love to lie and tell you that I think it can…but I just don't see how…"

"You lost your powers in order to get back here? That's _it_?"

"Y-yeah…that's it." He hadn't told her about the second part of the deal, and it would hurt him too much to tell her. "Well, you see, there's this gatekeeper…he is the dude who helps people through the gate. I remember staying there for so long, so confused with everything, and he made a deal with me in order to send me back here. I gave him part of me that was somewhat precious, it was part of who I was. But I agreed to give that to him." Danny looked at Sam; _I can't tell her the second deal. Not yet. _He reached over and grabbed her hand, "he told me that one of the reasons I wasn't able to cross over was because I was still connected to this world. I couldn't let go of it."

Sam smiled and kissed him, "I'm glad that you came back. I love you."

Danny looked away and blushed lightly, feeling like such a dork saying this, "I love you too, Sam." He didn't quite know why but he really enjoyed saying that, it made him feel happier.

They sat together in silence for several minutes before Danny spoke up, "are you sure you're ready to go back there?"

"Are you?"

"Of course not. I'll never be ready, but we need to…"

"If it's to help the others then I'm more than willing to go."

"We're going to have to skip school." Danny added.

Sam laughed, "I realized that. Hopefully this trip won't be as long as the last one."

"Crossed fingers."

--

2:00 am

"Come on, hurry it up." Danny, Sam and Tucker quickly and quietly loaded every weapon available into the strange 'vehicle' known as the Specter Speeder. Sam had never heard of it, but somehow the Fenton's managed to keep that thing out of view (but how was still a mystery to her).

"Do you think that's everything?" Tucker asked Danny.

"Well, it's everything we can bring with us. We have more than enough stuff; now let's get out of here before someone wakes up!"

The three of them filed into the Specter Speeder. Danny at the wheel of course because he was the only one of them who knew how to drive it correctly. He was just backing out into the street and started to head down the road, it was pitch black with only the headlights to see around them, it was very sudden when Danny slammed on the breaks. Even though the Specter Speeder seemed to float and had no wheels, it still managed to halt immediately like a car.

All three of them nearly screamed when they saw a person standing in the middle of the road about ten feet away from them, the headlights shining on them.

"Klayton!" Danny shouted from the open window, "what are you doing!? I could've run you over!"

Klayton laughed, his arms crossed in front of him while he stood there, looking very comfortable. "Do you really think I wouldn't be able to dodge this if it came flying at me? You think too little of me, bro."

"Yeah yeah, what're you doing here!?"

"Aunally told me what happened." Klayton used Jezebel's fake name, which gave Danny the point that even now they needed to be careful of people watching them. "And did you really think I would let you go _alone_!? And don't tell me it's gonna be dangerous, you know that excuse won't keep me back." He grinned, "I want to help."

Danny sighed, "Hop on." The giant side door opened up, and then Klayton happily jumped inside with them. "If anything happens to you, it's your own fault." He drove/glided along the road for several feet and then allowed the vehicle to lift into the air high above the city, where it was safer.

-S.E.H.S Organization-

"I'm really, really sorry, Father!" Pyrros was down on all fours with his forehead against the floor, "I was afraid if I tried harder to fight against them I might lost control and kill the ones that you want alive. I'm really sorry. I won't fail next time! I swear!" Pyrros was in tears, kicking himself on the inside because of his worthless effort. He knew that he could've probably still fought against that pale skinned one that wore a lot of chains, but in order to do that he would've had to step it up a level, a level he wasn't quite comfortable with yet.

"Can I trust in your word, son?" Rafael turned toward Pyrros and stood over him.

"Of course, father! Please, just give me another chance! I won't mess up again!"

"Stand up, son." And Pyrros did as he was told. "I made something for you; it should help you control the deeper part of yourself. I also created something to get rid of those memories that you complained about."

"Y-yes, thank you, father!" Pyrros hated having the memories, the memories that he knew weren't his. He remembered the boy, his brother, Subject 112, mentioning that he was created from another person…is it true that those were that person's memories? They were vague, and often only like a background noise, but they were there nonetheless. But now they would be gone, and he would be able to control himself more. "They won't stand a chance against me this time!"

"Well, son, now is not the time to fight. We will fight, but there are other things we need to take care of before we can start this war."

"Understood, father."

-Amity Park…or not…-

"You're lost, aren't you!?"

"Shut up! You said to go this way! I distinctly remember going to that city!"

"No! That leads to Mexico, or whatever! We don't need to go there, right!? NO! We're going to the organization!"

"That's what I'm trying to do! But you just keep-"

"You're being annoying!"

"You're being stupid!"

"Shut _up!_ Both of you!" Sam snarled. She was sitting in the passenger seat of the vehicle, with Danny driving, and Klayton standing in the empty space between Danny and Sam, leaning his arms against their chairs.

"_I'm _being stupid!?" Klayton barked, "well you can just go and—oof!" He doubled over when Sam elbowed him.

"I said shut up! This arguing between you two is getting us nowhere! Danny, just keep driving! Klayton, you just…lie there for now. And keep quiet!"

Tucker sat on the opposite side of the Specter Speeder, staring down at Klayton's body. He didn't seem to make much of an effort to get up. Tucker felt bad for the guy.

"Well, now I don't know if we're going the right way! Klayton _claims _that this is the right way, but he hasn't been here in a long time! What would he know! Yeah, Klay', I'm talking to you!" He yelled toward the unmoving figure on the floor. "Uh…did you kill him?"

"Possibly. I didn't hit him that hard though."

"Um, Sam…" Tucker spoke up, "I don't think it was how hard you hit him but _where _you hit him that might've hurt him…"

Sam's eyes widened while Danny burst out laughing hysterically.

"Oh my god! Klayton I'm so sorry!" Sam cried, "Are you going to be okay? Klayton?"

"Yeah," Danny said between fits of laughter, "he's definitely dead."

--

"Oh good, he lives." Danny announced when Klayton finally stood up.

"Yeah, yeah."

"I'm so sorry, Klayton! I seriously am!" Sam apologized.

Klayton groaned, "I'll live. So, where are we now?"

"Who knows… I'm just going by what seems familiar. I remember this creek we're near, so I'm heading this way, hopefully we'll see something else soon enough." Danny announced.

"There are too many trees here! It's annoying!"

"Tell me about it!" Danny replied, recalling his previous time trying to find the building. "It is seriously in the middle of nowhere!"

It was a few good hours later when Danny's eyes widened, "oh my god, I recognize this…it's around here…"

"Well, shouldn't we have been given some guests by now? There's no way we could go unnoticed around here, right?" Klayton pointed out, "So…what's that mean? Either this thing is really sneaky or we're expected."

"If I had to guess, it would be the second one." Sam replied.

"Well, let's hope that your guess is wrong." Danny bit his lip, glancing at Klayton, _you ready? _

_Of course not. _Klayton replied with his eyes.

Danny steered the wheel so that they began to descend from the sky, _it has to be here, really close. _He could feel his skin crawling, even without his ghost sense, his body remembered all too well the location of this hell.

"There it is." Klayton pointed to the right, "let's get off here and go by foot the rest of the way."

"Good idea."

It was very difficult to park the Specter Speeder with all the trees in the way, but they managed. All of them started walking toward the S.E.H.S Organization building with their bodies covered in weapons; each of them held tightly to their weapons, waiting for trouble to pop out of nowhere.

There it was: the center of their nightmares. Each of them stared at the large concrete building in the distance, the way it seemed to taunt them just by being near it, that place had many dark memories, too many…Danny shuttered and pressed forward. "Alright, let's go."

**A/N: Sorry about the no-action-whatsoever chapter. I wanted to keep things light and somewhat happy for a bit before things got worse. And things **_**will **_**get worse, I can promise you that. Anyway, tell me what you think!**


	24. Changes

Error's Rival

Chapter 24: Changes

"Danny, I think there's something wrong with this…" Klayton spoke up as Danny marched forward, his eyes narrowed and teeth bared. "Seriously, I think there's something wrong! This is too easy! Surely Rafael wouldn't let us get in so easily! I mean, where's the guards and the security!?"

"It doesn't matter, Klay'."

"No I'm serious!"

"And so am I!" Danny barked. His hands began trembling so he tightened his grip on the large gun in his hands. "Rafael is always a step ahead of us, we just have to go along with that and improvise."

"That's just suicide!" Klayton snarled.

"Hey, you could've stayed home if you wanted to, but you insisted on coming! Now shut up and just go along with it!"

"Hey you two!" Sam came between them, "stop fighting!"

"Yeah, we get that you're scared," Tucker said, "but arguing won't change anything."

"Sorry." Danny quickly said, and began walking forward again. "We're here to save those kids, that's it."

"What the-" Klayton narrowed his eyes while staring at the building. "Look closer…the – the door's open!"

"What are you talking about!?" Danny also narrowed his eyes but couldn't see as far as the door, they were still quite far away from the place.

"Stay here a sec." Klayton's body lifted off the ground and he zipped over to the building at an extremely fast speed.

"You idiot!" Danny growled, "Sam stay behind me. That idiot's going to get us killed!"

"OI!" Klayton waved over to them from the doorway of the building, they could vaguely see him, but could definitely hear him! "Get over here!"

"Sam, Tucker, stay close. Please."

Sam could hear the worry in his voice, he was afraid of something and she knew what it was.

The walk over to the building was one of the longest walks they had ever had to take, it was a short distance but the stress that built up along the way made it feel the longest of all time, and they each glanced in all directions every time they heard a rustle of the trees or an animal move. It was terrifying.

"Look." Klayton said as they approached him, "it's…empty…"

"No way!" Danny exclaimed, "This has to be another trick!"

"Say what you want but I don't sense anybody here."

Danny nodded and walked into the building, for some reason, it wasn't _as _scary as he thought it would be, he had his friends there with him and as far as they knew they weren't about to be attacked; Danny felt the boulder on his shoulders become lighter at this good news. But the confusion still lingered within him. _That doesn't make sense. _

Inside the room they saw hundreds of tables…empty tables… the only things that remained other than the tables were broken or used equipment around the room. Danny began hyperventilating, dropping the weapon in his hands. _Damn it, hold yourself together! What's wrong!? _He asked himself.

"Danny? Are you feeling alright?" Sam put a hand on his shoulder, "Danny?"

He flinched from her touch, inhaling deeply, "sorry…" he muttered, "…it's nothing."

Sam didn't realize how much it was hurting him to be in this room, there had been so many things that happened in this place. "Hey it's alright, it's not like before." She let her hand fall across his back in comfort but pulled away quickly when he hissed. "You okay? What happened?"

"Nothing. Sorry to worry you."

Sam had unfortunately touched the spot on his back that still had a piece of Venom's knife lodged in there; they had never managed to take it out.

"Come on." Danny led the way, walking through the room, trying his best to stare at the floor and not at anything else. The next room was very similar to the first, except this one also had a large empty tank that seemed to be the only thing in the room that wasn't broken. "What the heck is this?"

"Take a look at the clipboard," Klayton held up a clipboard with some papers still on it, "it says 'Subject 214.'"

"That's Pyrros's number; he told me when we were fighting." Danny replied.

"So…this is where that kid was made? Isn't that sort of strange though, how was he able to move around if he's just a big ball of ectoplasm?"

Danny bit his lip. He knew why, he just couldn't find the heart to tell Klayton.

"Hey I want to check something."

--

A few hallways and rooms later Danny was in the long hallway of doors with numbers painted on each of them. He bowed his head and walked to the end of the hall where he saw the number '112' painted on the door, it was slightly open and the inside had been forced open.

_How was I able to break out? I didn't have power's right? I don't understand, and I don't remember well at all about that time. It was after I made the deal with the Gatekeeper. All I can assume is that he made it possible for me to escape, he had to keep the deal, it was his job to make sure I got home, right? But still…it's amazing that I was able to get out…_

"Hey bro', you alright?" Klayton called down to Danny from the doorway to the hall.

"Yeah," Danny called back before walking back to him.

Sam sat down on one of the tables, she seemed to be lost in her own thoughts, and the others didn't realize that she was conversing with Noella at the time, but she was soon interrupted from that when they heard a voice.

"It's you!"

Each of them jumped high into the air from the voice and out of instinct, both Danny and Klayton managed to whip out their weapons and aim in less than a second. Sam and Tucker weren't as experienced with fighting and being alert, so they didn't have as quick of a reaction.

Sam quickly told the two boys to put their weapons down.

"Where'd he go!?" Klayton barked. "He vanished!"

"Put away that thing!" Sam demanded, "It's not an enemy! Jeez!" She jumped off the table and put down her gun, "it's okay!" She called out, "we're not here to hurt you! Remember us? My name is Sam Manson, you will remember that I was here a little while ago with Danny. These are my friends Klayton and Tucker." She pointed to each of them. "It's alright."

It was completely silent and still for several moments before small transparent beings began to appear out of thin air. They were all so young and frightened.

"We're here to help you." Sam softly said to them. "We're going to set you free."

For Sam and Tucker, it was a sad moment to see all the faces of the children trapped in this building, but for Danny and Klayton it hit them like a two ton brick. They easily could've been one of these children it was by chance that they escaped.

"Don't worry," Danny assured them, "we'll definitely get you out of here."

"How do you plan on doing that!?" Klayton hissed at Danny, trying to keep out of hearing from the children souls.

"They can't leave this place, right? Their souls are bound to this building, so I'm guessing that we'll have to…destroy the building's structure enough that the curse holding them here is lifted…" He bit his lip. "…maybe…"

"Oh that's perfect! That doesn't sound accurate to me! I doubt that it's the building's fault!" Klayton barked.

"You're right." A voice echoed above them.

Each of them snapped their heads in the direction of the voice.

"Pyrros!" Danny barked, tightening his grip on his weapon, "it's you again!"

Sam quickly reached over to the gun she put down and gripped it tightly. Tucker stayed close to her, grabbing two hand-held guns from his pockets, while Klayton pulled the sleeve up on his sweater to reveal his arms weapon.

"You come for round two!?" Klayton smirked.

"Heheh, not today." Pyrros jumped into view, revealing his new appearance. Flames seemed to trail along his entire body already, his claws seemed longer than before, and most of all he just looked more deadly than before.

"What happened to _you_!?"

Pyrros laughed, "Like it? Father made some improvements."

Danny snarled, "Stop calling him that!"

"Jealous?"

"HA! That's a new one! Why would I be jealous of that freak!? I hate him!"

"Hey, don't insult father!"

"Hey hey!" Klayton cut in, "alright, what are you doing here!?" He demanded, raising his arm and pointing it toward the ceiling where Pyrros remained floating. "And where's Rafael!?"

"Did you really think that they would stay in the same place forever? Father said that we had to move to a new location for a little while, he never actually said why though. But I don't ask questions. He told me to come and greet you guys, but to not fight."

A large green beam shot toward him, "well he should've known that we came here for a fight!" Klayton jumped into the air, rocketing toward their opponent. "Let me guess," he hovered in front of Pyrros, throwing punches everywhere he possibly could, however Pyrros easily dodged each of them, "in order to free these kids, we have to kill the main source right? Rafael?"

Pyrros grinned evilly, "don't think that you'll ever get past me! You'll never lay a hand on father!"

"Well, you didn't say 'no' so I'm guessing that I was right!" He began kicking; Pyrros somehow blocked his kicks and was not affected by them at all.

"Father says that I have to be careful of you, apparently you're much stronger than you make yourself seem."

Klayton's eyes widened, "what're you talking about!?" He jumped back a few feet and steadied his arm weapon with his left hand before firing a few rounds of glowing energy at Pyrros. "You're just full of lies, aren't ya?"

While Klayton attacked Pyrros, Danny, Sam and Tucker all aimed their weapons in Pyrros's direction. Normally Danny would feel bad about attacking from behind, but at the moment he was pissed off and didn't really care how Pyrros was defeated, as long as they didn't kill him. _He is still partly Allison after all. I have to make sure that Klayton doesn't kill him! _He watched as Pyrros kicked Klayton in the ribs, throwing him backward, _however, I don't know if we'll have to worry about Klay' killing him. He's even more powerful than before…_

Klayton was repeatedly thrown backward without managing to do any damage to this guy! He snarled at the feeling growing in his gut! Annoyance. He glanced toward Danny, _come on! _He shouted with his eyes at his friend.

All three of them fired at the same time. There was a large explosion in the air from the impact.

"What!?" Klayton gasped when he realized that Pyrros blocked _all _of them! He held his hand out and somehow all of the attacks had no effect whatsoever! "No way!" He didn't have time to react as Pyrros appeared right in front of him, punching him full force in the gut, sending him flying across the room.

"Klay'!" Danny shouted, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out three small spheres, launching them toward their opponent and watching as they exploded.  
"You missed."

Danny's eyes widened when the voice came from _behind _him. Pyrros delivered a strong kick to the small of Danny's back, bringing him to the ground in an instant.

"I held back before, bro! You were right; there were feelings and memories that weren't mine! They kept me from completely destroying you back then! I don't know if I can hold back anymore." Pyrros grinned. "Father says to not fight, but technically you started it, so I might just have to finish it."

"I thought you weren't supposed to kill us!" Sam shouted, taking Pyrros's attention from Danny.

"I wasn't supposed to, and I'm still not _supposed _to. But you know accidents happen. It's father's fault for trying t block that girl Allison's memories! Now things are different! I don't _have _to take orders from father!"

"Your attitude toward _father _has certainly changed." Sam pointed out. "Tell me, why don't you just get rid of him if he's just in the way?" Sam inhaled sharply, dropping her gun to the ground when Pyrros vanished completely from sight and then she felt the tip of a knife against her neck.

"Don't insult father." Pyrros whispered directly into Sam's ear, he stood behind her with his arm around her to hold her still while putting the blade to her throat. "He's still my father; I just don't have to listen to him all the time."

"Get away from her!" Klayton jumped into view, grabbing Pyrros by his green hair and while using one hand to grab the knife and throw it, he used his other hand to throw Pyrros away from Sam. "Sam, you okay?"

Sam slowly nodded.

"Tucker! Go help Danny." Klayton quickly said before jumping toward Pyrros once again, "don't touch my friends you freak!" He held up his right arm threateningly, "touch Sam again, and I'll kill you!"

Pyrros gave an innocent look, "really? You would kill me? Father may have been able to block some of the memories, but I know you still." He grinned, "you probably don't recognize me like this, right, _Klaytonion_?"

The way Pyrros said Klayton's nickname was what set Klayton off. Klayton remembered all too well when Allison would greet him with the odd nickname 'Klaytonion', it always remained a somewhat childish yet precious memory. To hear this guy say it so mockingly made Klayton furious to say the least.

Pyrros held his hand up, a ball of flaming energy struck Klayton in the forehead, however it wasn't meant to kill him, it didn't even hurt him, but Klayton could see from Pyrros's point of view how it happened…how Allison was used to create this demon.

"NO!" Ectoenergy began to seep out of Klayton, tightening the air and making it difficult to breathe. "You can't be serious!"

"Ooh, struck a nerve there, didn't I?"

Klayton felt realization fall over him, he wasn't an idiot, he knew what Rafael was capable of. He knew that Allison had died by Rafael's hand and that she was in this place. He didn't, however, know that Rafael had used Allison to create this god-forsaken monster. The woman that he cared about so deeply, he thought of her as a mother, she saved him from Rafael, risked her life to save him. She was gone? Klayton squeezed his eyes shut before having them snap open with hatred burning furiously, "I'll kill you!!!"

A/N: Sorry about the slightly shorter chapter, I was hoping to update on this and the other story I began working on as soon as possible. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it.


	25. Lose Control

Error's Rival

Chapter 25: Lose Control

"I'll kill you!" Klayton roared with such fury, a blast of energy radiated off of him, knocking Pyrros back a few feet. "You killed her!!" While still snarling like a rabid dog, Klayton punched his right arm with his fist, it looked odd that he did that at first but then his weapon arm had a long knife-like dagger extend from it, as though a sword were attached to Klayton's arm. Red and green ectoplasm energy swirled around the weapon.

Danny struggled to sit up; he had taken quite a hit from Pyrros. Tucker supported his back, repeatedly asking him if he was alright. Danny nodded, "I'll be okay. Where's Sam?" He looked over across the room and saw Sam, standing there. Why was she standing there? He thought. And then he realized that she was looking at Klayton. Danny's eyes widened, "Oh god…" He grabbed onto Tucker's shoulder and hauled himself up, hissing with pain as he did so.

"Hey, dude, you should sit down a bit."

"He's losing it, Tuck'." Danny looked at Klayton, "I can't let that happen."

"I don't understand."

"It used to happen to me! He's half ghost like I was! Ghosts are often destructive creatures that don't think; they only attack. If our emotions go a bit overboard, this kind of thing happens!" Danny cringed at the memory. The memory so long ago when Sam was kidnapped for the first time; before she even knew he was Phantom and he went after her. The man had shot Sam, and he had lost it completely…

_The blood in his veins began to boil with adrenaline, his thoughts turned to Sam; she was loosing blood fast! A bright glow came around his body, instantly he regained most of his energy, and immediately, Phantom threw his arms to either side of him, breaking the handcuffs._

_The air around all of them dropped at least twenty degrees; you would see the fear in the mens eyes._

_Phantom's thoughts and feelings were pushed out of his head; now his only knowledge was destruction, his eyes focused in on the three men, __**Kill Them! **__A voice in his head ordered him. Without hesitation, Phantom lunged forward, snarling and growling like an animal, in fact, the man could have sworn he saw fangs coming out of the ghost kid's mouth. But that was the last thing he saw before his vision went black._

_The two remaining men uselessly fired everything they had. No luck._

_Phantom raised a few feet into the air so that he looked down on them with lethal eyes, he dove down faster than lightning, and collided his foot with one of the men's heads. A gruesome crack echoed in his ears as the man's neck was broken, killing him instantly. Before his body hit the ground, Phantom shot an ecto blast at him, sending the corpse rolling away from him._

_With his teeth bared, Phantom turned to the last one standing, loathing was written all across his face._

_The man froze with fear, he was the one Phantom wanted to kill the most. He was the one who shot Sam. He could do nothing to fight back now. __What have we created!? __He thought, just before an iron hard punch was delivered into his stomach. He was thrown backward, hearing the cracking of a few ribs. The pain was too much, and he was losing consciousness. But Phantom wasn't through with him yet._

_The __possessed __teen slowly walked up to him, charging up an ecto beam in his palm. The man could see one of his eyes twitching as he tried to gain control of himself, but the power was too strong to control._

"_Die!" Phantom roared with a cold, deadly voice.__ (Error's Love chapter 10)_

Danny hated to think about what he did. He knew of several times when he let his ghost half run wild, he couldn't let Klayton do that too! He ran with a slight limp from his back injury toward Sam, he quickly wrapped an arm around her in comfort, "Are you alright?" He quickly asked. She nodded in reply. Tucker quickly came up on his other side. "Stay with her, don't let anything happen to her!" He said to Tucker.

Sam held onto his hand, "wait, Danny! Where're you going?"

Danny looked at Klayton, "I can't let him kill Pyrros! Allison is still in there somewhere! If he kills Pyrros, he'll be killing Allison as well!" He saw the look of worry in Sam's eyes and quickly pulled her into a tight hug, "don't worry, I won't get killed." He gave Sam a gentle kiss before pulling away from her and running toward Klayton.

--

Pyrros blocked Klayton's daggered arm with his forearm, but his eyes widened when he realized that the weapon dug into his flesh! Green blood began to spill out, dripping onto the floor. "What?" He barked, looking up at Klayton's eyes with surprise. "What are you?"

Klayton lifted his foot up while Pyrros was still focused on his eyes, and proceeded to kick Pyrros in the knee. A sickening crack echoed through the room as the knee was snapped backwards. Pyrros howled with pain. Klayton refused to stop there; he dropped to the ground in the blink of an eye and swung his legs underneath Pyrros, causing him to fall onto his back.

Before Pyrros could process it in his mind, he let out another shriek of agony. Klayton was on top of him, and Klayton had stabbed the at least foot long knife directly into Pyrros's shoulder, cutting clear through him so that Pyrros was literally pinned to the floor. "I'll kill you!" Klayton hissed like a snake at his enemy. Klayton didn't pull the dagger out of Pyrros, he kept his arm there and with his free hand he punched Pyrros in the gut.

Pyrros coughed a few drops of ectoplasm from the blow to his stomach, knowing that this guy had damaged some of his organs. _How could this happen!? _Pyrros asked himself; _just a minute ago he couldn't lay a hand on me! What happened to him!? Is this what father was talking about? _

"Klay'!"

Both of them looked over at Danny, who was hobbling toward them.

"Klay', stop this! You don't want to hurt him! Please!"

"Stay away!" Klayton growled toward his friend.

Danny stopped dead in his tracks, only a few feet away from them though. "Klay', listen to me. Don't let your ghost half control you." He spoke calmly, "it's not worth it. Stop this. Pyrros didn't kill Allison, she's still there somewhere, if you kill Pyrros now, any hope we have of saving Allison will be gone!"

"I said _get away_!"

Danny took a brief step backward. "Klayton, it's me, Danny. I need you to listen to me. Let go of Pyrros."

"Go away!"

"Klayton!" Danny walked toward him, "Klayton!" He repeated.

"Shut up!" Klayton pulled the knife out of Pyrros's shoulder and blindly swung at Danny. A moment later, Klayton heard a thud. He blinked a few times and looked down at his sword like weapon, "what the…" Blood could be seen on the tip of it. He looked down at Pyrros below him, gasping when he saw the condition Pyrros was in. "Did I…" He turned and saw his best friend on the ground, holding his stomach where there was a gaping wound. "Danny!" He cried, leaping off of Pyrros and going to his friend's side. "Oh my god! Danny! I'm so sorry!"

Klayton was soon next to both Tucker and Sam; they had run up to him from where they were standing. "Danny! I didn't mean to!" Klayton closed his eyes. "Just hang on a sec, bro." He placed his hands over Danny's wound.

Danny's face was twisted with pain, but he remained conscious, knowing that the wound wasn't too deep, but sure was bleeding a lot. It only took a few moments for Klayton to transfer the wound between them. Danny had wanted to speak against it, knowing that it took a lot of energy to do that and even more energy to heal it quickly, but he couldn't speak, he had to focus only on breathing and keeping calm.

A bright glow surrounded both of them and a second later, Klayton fell over, grunting from the wound. Before he passed out, he managed to focus his energy on that spot on his stomach to heal it.

Pyrros sat up, looking over at the group of friends. He looked down at himself; he was in no condition to continue. Before the others even noticed, Pyrros intangibly dropped through the floor and escaped.

--

"So, he got away?" Sam asked. She sat down beside Danny, who was supporting Klayton's head on his lap. Tucker was on the other side of Danny and around them were a few of the spirit children.

"Yeah, he got away. I guess he left right after his fight with Klayton." Danny smiled slightly, "I'm glad he snapped out of it though. I was really worried there for a second. Ow!" Danny looked at Sam who had just punched him in the arm, "what was that for?"

"Idiot! You could've gotten killed!" Sam bit her trembling lip, "I was really scared!"

Danny exhaled deeply, "I'm sorry that I worried you. I didn't die though, right?"

Sam looked away, "that's not the point."

Tucker could hear their conversation but made sure to keep his mouth shut, the last thing he wanted was both of them against him!

"Hey, I'm sorry." Danny rotated slightly, making sure not to wake up Klayton, and wrapped his arms around Sam. "I really am." He rested his head on Sam's shoulder.

"I know." Sam turned toward Danny again, unable to hide the tear that ran down her cheek. Danny brought his face close, kissing the corner of Sam's mouth before trailing his lips over hers. Sam felt her stomach churn and proceeded to part her lips slightly, allowing Danny's tongue to wrestle with her own.

Klayton rolled his eyes, "get a room, seriously! I'm right here!"

Both of the teens broke apart and looked down at Klayton.

"You're awake?" Danny asked, turning bright red, "why didn't you say something!"

Klayton smirked, "Well I thought it was just a quick peck on the lips, but _noooo_, you just had to go and make a whole meal out of it! So before the two of you start striping, just know that I'm still alive here! And not to mention Tucker is over there, and there are _kids _around!" He pointed to the teenage kid who was turned completely away from them and then pointed out that there were some spirit children there too.

"Oh, right." Danny dully said, "I forgot. _Not _that anything was going to happen! Jeez!" He pushed Klayton's head off of his lap, not caring that he might've hurt him when he let his head hit the hard floor.

Danny may have been completely embarrassed, but Sam found it quite amusing. She fought hard not to laugh. "Klayton, are you feeling all better now?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What happened to Pyrros?"

"He got away." Danny replied.

Klayton sat up slowly, "Hey Danny…about that…I'm really sorry that I lost control like that! I didn't even know what I was doing! I just-"

"You don't have to apologize. It's partially my fault for not telling you about Allison. But I do believe that we can get her back somehow. We just need to figure out how. But everything's fine now, right? We also know now that in order to set these kids free, we're going to have to destroy Rafael."

"But…we don't know where he is…" Klayton pointed out.

"Then we'll just have to keep looking."

-Amity Park-

"Okay!" Tucker announced, "I've marked all the possible places that Rafael could be hiding out!"

All of them gathered in front of Danny's computer in his room, looking at the map Tucker had made red marks on. There had definitely been hell to pay from the Fentons when they got back; it was hard to explain to them what had happened. Danny felt bad that he went behind their backs, but he had expected the fight to be longer and more importantly he had expected to fight Rafael. They didn't have to use a whole bunch of weapons, so the gadgets and devices were undamaged, the Specter Speeder was fine and most importantly all of _them _were alive and well.

"Tucker, there's red marks all over this freaking map! Couldn't you narrow it down more?" Danny asked.

Tucker glared, "sorry, but I did what you told me. These are all the places that are surrounded by trees and are away from cities and towns. This is the best I could do. Sorry, dude."

"Well, I'll admit this is better than nothing. Still this'll take a while to go to all of them. We might as well get started! Which place is closest?" Danny asked.

Klayton, Tucker and Sam all looked at one another. Sam was the first to speak, "Danny, do you really want to leave right away? I mean, we just got back and we all need to rest some more."

"But the more time we take to _rest_ the worse the situation gets! Rafael isn't _resting_; he's working constantly to achieve his goals! I don't know what all of them are, he has several, but we can't let him succeed! We need to fight back as soon as we can and stop him!"

"Calm down," Klayton clapped Danny on the shoulder, "one day isn't going to hurt, right? We'll start looking for him tomorrow. Relax, Danny, have a nice meal, take a nap, hang out with your girlfriend, do something. Okay? I need to go to Jezebel, let her know I'm alright." He smiled at them and walked out of the room.

Danny exhaled, "I guess…"

"Hey man, I would love to stay but I need to go check in with my folks too. It gets hard to explain that I hang out with you guys all the time…and I'll have to think of a reason why I missed school too." Tucker stood up from his seat at the computer.

"Well, tell them I got hurt and was in the hospital, so you skipped school to see me." Danny grinned.

"And I didn't check in with them at all? I can guarantee that won't work."

"Okay then you're on your own. See you tomorrow though, right?"

Tucker nodded and left as well.

"Sam, don't your parents ever worry that you're with me all the time?"

Sam shook her head, "not really. They have work most of the time and also I think that they're just happy I'm out of the house at all. If they were really worried they can just walk over."

"I guess so. Well, I say we go get some food, want to go out and get food with me?"

Sam smiled, "I'd love to."

--

Klayton walked into his apartment, immediately greeting his sister with a hug. "Sorry that I took a little while."

"Brother…someone started talking to me today…" Jezebel softly whimpered into his shirt.

Klayton's eyes widened, "who!? Who was talking to you!? Did they come in here!?"

Jezebel shook her head, "I don't know. I don't know who it was. They weren't mean…they just talked. I don't remember exactly what they said though…"

Klayton held his sister tightly, "if they start talking to you again, tell me, okay?"

Jezebel nodded.

Klayton grit his teeth, _was it a Messenger? Like the one that came up to me? It could've been another one of Jezebel's mind tricks. _Klayton knew that Jezebel was mentally unstable, he had always known that and he couldn't wait to get revenge on the man who did this to her. It was one of Rafael's stupid experiments that crippled her both physically and mentally! He would never forgive that man for that.

That night, Klayton sat by Jezebel's bed the entire time she slept, he held her hand comfortingly. He knew that he ought to sleep, but he also knew that with his half ghost body, he didn't require as much sleep as a human did. He looked down at his metal coated arm. _I nearly killed my best friend with this weapon…I can't let myself lose control like that! _He tucked Jezebel's hair behind her ear gently. "I'm sorry." He didn't know why he apologized or even who he was apologizing to; it just seemed to escape from his lips…

A/N: Things should get more interesting really soon, I promise! Hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	26. Venom

Error's Rival

Chapter 26: Venom

Danny narrowed his eyes, he tried to keep from telling Sam to stay behind, but every few minutes he asked her if she was really up to this.

"I've told you before!" Sam barked, "I'm coming with you no matter what!"

"Okay, okay, I just want to make sure. I mean, I don't want you to feel pressured into doing this."

Sam snarled, "Danny, believe me, I won't change my mind."

They were on their way to the park where they planned to meet up with Klayton and Tucker; everything was all ready for them. The Specter Speeder was there along with everything they would need for the trip, this time they didn't have to sneak out, Danny told the Fenton's everything. Sam and Danny held hands as they walked slowly, taking their time getting there.

Tucker was going to bring the map of where they were going to go, Danny and Klayton were of course responsible for bringing weapons.

"Hey, Tuck," Danny greeted with a smile; they found Tucker sitting on the park bench with his eyes scanning over the map.

"Oh, hey Danny, hey Sam." Tucker yawned, "Why did we have to meet here so early?"

"We need to get started as soon as possible. And seven o'clock isn't _that _early!" Danny replied. "Is Klayton not here yet?"

"He said he would be here in a little bit, he's taking care of a few things before he comes here."

Danny nodded, "Good."

It was a few moments later when something on Danny's belt started beeping rapidly. All three of them looked at his belt, Danny grabbed the device and held it up to eye level, "oh no." He immediately pulled out an ectogun, "Hopefully Klayton will get here sooner than later." Danny bit his lip.

"Danny, what's going on?"

A cackling laugh erupted all around them, "Well, well, Phantom, long time no see!"

Sam's eyes widened, "No way!" She also pulled out two hand guns.

"Who is it?" Tucker quickly asked.

Out of thin air, Venom appeared before them.

"So, you finally decide to show yourself after so long?" Danny tightened his grip on his weapon, "What kept you?"

"Ah, you know, this and that."

"What do you want?" Danny's eyes widened when Venom lunged forward, ignoring Danny's question completely. Danny's first instinct was to drop to the ground and avoid being hit by the attack, but he quickly realized what would happen. Sam was right behind him, if he dropped to the ground, Venom's attack was sure to hit her. Danny took Venom's punch full on, stumbling backwards before dropping to all fours.

"Ooh, what was _that_?" Venom snickered, standing over Danny, "you didn't even try to dodge that! And I even went slow!"

"Get away!" Sam bellowed, firing both her guns repeatedly at the cloaked monster.

Venom, even though they couldn't see his face from the hood, was grinning as he held his hand up, catching all of the gun's ectobullets in his palm, "you may not have gotten stronger over time, but my powers are constantly growing! Your attacks cannot hurt me!" Venom held up his hand again, this time wrapping his hand around Tucker's fist, which was aiming to hit his face.

Even with the energy-filled brass knuckles, Venom was unaffected by the punch. Venom held Tucker's fist there for a moment before swinging around, throwing Tucker several feet away from him. "Pathetic attempt."

"Damn you!" Danny stood up; gasping for breath as he did so, "don't hurt them! You're opponent is me!"

"What do you plan on doing without any ghost powers?"

"Ghost powers or not, I can still defeat you!" Danny pulled out two small metallic bars, holding one in each hand, both of the bars extended to at least two feet in length before they began to glow a dark green colour.

"You always talk big, always claiming to beat me but you have never successfully gotten rid of me!" Venom jumped forward, hands outstretched and gleaming with red energy. "No mere human could ever defeat me!"

Danny defensively raised the bars up in an X in front of him, but it wasn't enough. Venom's pale hand grabbed onto the bars and held them, Danny's eye widened; _it's not affecting him!? _He threw Venom back with all his might, managing to get Venom to jump back a few feet, but Venom advanced on him once again.

"Is that it?" Venom laughed, "you plan on defeating me like this? Get real, Danny!" Venom launched into the air several feet above Danny before diving downward onto him. Unable to escape, Danny could only try and block Venom's attack once again. "That wont work on me." Venom hissed and easily knocked the weapons away from Danny before grabbing a hold of his throat.

Ectoplasmic electricity ran through Danny's body forcing a scream to come from Danny's throat, he shook and convulsed in place, unable to get away from Venom's attack. Venom had used this attack on Danny several times before, it happened to be Danny's least favorite attack, but this time it had such a different feeling, Danny could only guess that it was because he wasn't half ghost anymore. Before, it had felt like Danny was being fried on the spot, but now it was as though his limbs were burning and stabbing him from the inside out, lava seemed to seep into his blood stream.

"Let him go!" Sam howled with a plea, attacking Venom with the ectobars that Danny had dropped.

"Stay back, girl!" Venom barked at her, using his free hand to shoot an ectobeam in her direction.

Sam saw the attack coming and swiped at the beam with the bars, knocking them away from her. She narrowed her eyes, _that attack was much weaker than I thought. Is he going easy on me? Why? _She continued her run toward him, bringing the bars together and holding them both with her hands like a baseball bat, "let him go!" She repeated, swinging the bars at Venom with full force.

Venom jumped away from her attack, but didn't let go of Danny, he brought the limp boy with him, however he no longer continued to torture Danny with his electricity. "If you don't want to get hurt, girl, stay back!"

"Danny!" Sam cried, "Wake up! Get away from him!"

"Huh?" Venom held Danny up in front of his face, "is he dead already?"

"I think you'll find that I don't die very easily!" Danny, with his eyes still closed, threw two small spheres into Venom's face, shortly after an explosion erupted between them. Danny was released from Venom's grip and was dropped to the ground. He looked over at Sam, "are you okay?"

Sam nodded, "I'm fine."

Venom stood up from where he had been thrown, clearly angry, "I'll kill both of you!" He snarled.

A large green beam shot from behind Sam and Danny, which Venom didn't see coming until he was too late, it smashed into him and threw him backward several feet.

"Tucker!" Sam beamed, looking behind her toward their friend.

In his hands, Tucker held a large gun that was nearly too big to hold by himself. "Sorry it took me a while, this thing was hard to carry."

A roar of fury echoed through the park, Danny didn't even see Venom move, he was too fast. Danny suddenly felt his body lift off the ground as he felt at least three ribs snap. He was airborne for a few seconds and was plummeting down to the ground but was then kicked from behind, making his descent even faster. Dirt sprayed into the air all around where he landed. He couldn't breathe! Danny clutched his stomach from the pain, gritting his teeth and trying to force air into his lungs. _Damn it! _

Venom appeared in the cloud of dirt, not giving Danny a chance at all, he grabbed onto Danny's arm and pulled him up to his feet, and with a swift movement twisted Danny's arm behind his back and kicked the back of his shin so that Danny was down on his knees with Venom holding his arm from behind. "This is what happens when you mess with me!"

Tucker and Sam were running toward Danny but stopped suddenly when a red blob surrounded both of them, which became a floating giant red bubble. They pounded against the sides, but couldn't seem to get out.

"S-Sam." Danny gasped, Venom's hold on his arm pulled more so that Danny could feel his shoulder pop out of his socket.

"I'll let your friends watch helplessly as you die here and now!"

Venom tossed Danny into the air like a doll and landed a strong punch into his gut, throwing Danny backward, he landed painfully on the grass, twisting to his side and coughing up a mouthful of blood.

"Danny!" Sam screamed.

_I can't die here! _Danny told himself, _we need to keep our promise to those kids, we need to defeat Rafael…I can't die! _Danny's vision was beginning to fade.

Venom picked up Danny once more by the neck and the next thing Danny knew he was pinned up against a brick building. Danny remembered that there was a building near the park, he couldn't see it well at the moment, but he assumed that's what he was being held up against.

Sam screamed his name, watching as Danny was pinned up against the brick building, broken all over and blood seeping from his wounds. It was difficult for him to breathe, he didn't have the strength to fight back.

"Come on, bro, you're stronger than this!" Venom taunted.

_Bro? Why the hell are you calling me bro? _

"You should've known that things would end this like someday. What's it like to be betrayed by the ones that you love?"

"W-what…are you…"

"Don't tell me you _never _noticed _anything_! HA! Well then, this'll be fun. You ought to know before you die," Venom, with his free hand reached up to the hem of his cloak hood, pulling it back so that his shaded face came into view.

Danny's eyes widened with horror, his mouth gaping open with disbelief. "Klayton?" He choked out.

"Of course, who else?" Venom let go of the hood, letting it fall back so that his entire head was in view, revealing his face, Klayton's face. He laughed, "I'll tell ya, it is definitely hard to have _three _identities! Klayton, Keo and Venom! I prefer to be called Venom though!"

"Impossible!" Danny exclaimed, he was then released and fell down to the cement ground, letting out an earsplitting cry of agony.

Venom dropped down next to him.

Danny kept his eyes shut tightly; _this has to be a dream! It has to be! _

"D-Danny…" A raspy voice quietly spoke to him.

He looked up and saw Klayton/Venom taking a few steps back. "D-Danny," Venom said again, as though straining to speak, "G-get…away…hurry…"

Danny's eyes widened. "W-what?" _Klayton is fighting! It isn't him! Venom took over his body! _

"Shut up!" Venom shouted, "You're pathetic!" He looked back down at Danny, gaining control of his body again, "ever since I was born into him, he's fought against me, but has never succeeded in getting rid of me! I have Rafael to thank for giving me this boy's body as a host, the only way he's ever going to get rid of me is by getting rid of himself!"

"You bastard, you're not Klayton! Klayton is my friend, you're Venom! You're the enemy!" Danny coughed a few drops of blood and it stained his white shirt.

"Ha! Don't think that Klayton is _oh so innocent _in this! He's borrowed my powers plenty of times for himself! If I remember correctly he was the one that helped save you from Rafael's clutches along with that girl, I kept telling him he should just let you die, but he was determined to get you out of there! Well, I can't say that I didn't influence him a lot of the time, but he played a part!

Danny remembered all too well the relentless pain that Venom put him through at Hell's dungeon, _no, Klayton wouldn't hurt me! That was all Venom! It had to be! But, _Danny remembered, _Venom helped me and Sam escape, that was Klayton in Venom's form? What!? How did that happen? _

"Klayton knew all along that he was also Venom," Venom continued, "and yet he came to find you. How selfish of him!"

--

Both Tucker and Sam were frozen with shock, even at the distance they were, they could see and hear everything!

"No," Tucker quickly said, "Klayton hated Venom, I remember that time that we fought Pyrros for the first time, when he was out of it Klayton kept repeating 'I'm sorry' to Danny. He never wanted to hurt Danny! He never wanted to hurt us!" Tucker cried out the last line so that Venom could hear him.

--

"He never wanted to hurt us!"

Venom turned to look at Tucker, "what the hell are you shouting over there?"

"Klayton is our friend! He wanted to help us! You're the evil one!"

Sam dropped to her knees, _there's no way! _She tried to tell herself, but the more she thought about it… _back then…Venom was trying to save Allison from Rafael, I always wondered why Venom cared about her…was that Klayton's feelings toward Allison? How do we tell which one was Venom and which was Klayton? _

"You both always get in the way," Venom smirked, "I think it's about time I put an end to both of you!" He left Danny lying there and started on his way over to Sam and Tucker.

Danny grunted from pain, trying to will himself to get up. "D-don't…hurt them…" he just couldn't do it; he couldn't get up! "Sam…Tucker…"

"Let's start with you." Venom stood next to the bubble where Sam and Tucker were trapped and reached his hand through it, grabbing onto Tucker's shirt and pulling him out.

"Please…" Danny whimpered, "…Leave them alone!"

--

Unknown to all of them, Jezebel stood a bit in the distance watching the fight take place. She had known for quite a while that her brother wasn't fully well, he often talked even argued with himself in the middle of the night.

"Brother…" she whimpered, "I wish I could help you more…" She looked up into the sky, "Gatekeeper, I want to make the deal now."

The sky faded to black before her, the sun and all the buildings vanished from sight, she stood in the middle of nothingness, she could only see endless black around her.

Danny's eyes widened when a dark black colour seemed to swallow him up, pulling him away from the fight and the park altogether. "What…is this?" He looked around and even through the absolute darkness he could see a girl standing not too far from him, "Jezebel?"

Jezebel turned to him with a slight smile, "Hi Danny…" She slowly walked toward him.

"What's going on?" Danny managed to say.

"Jezebel," A voice echoed all around them "has decided to make a deal with me."

Danny's eyes widened, "I know that voice." He remembered hearing that same voice when he made a deal with the Gatekeeper, "is that you?" He called out to the voice.

Ignoring his question completely, the voice continued, "Please grab hands for a moment."

Jezebel obeyed, dropped down to her knees and grabbing onto Danny's hands, who remained lying down with pain. "Danny, I made a deal with the Gatekeeper, I'm going to…get you your powers back."

"W-what!?"

"Please, I'm begging, you, save my brother. He doesn't mean to hurt anybody; I know that he's still good! Please help him!" She squeezed Danny's hands, tears rolling down her face, "Please…"

"Jezebel, I don't understand…"

A large pair of doors sprung up from the 'nonexistent' floor.

"I'm going to get you your powers back…in exchange for my life…"

The doors swung wide open, an endless pit of colours swirling around like a hurricane.

Jezebel released Danny's hands and stood up, beginning to walk toward the open doors.

"Jezebel! Stop! What're you doing!?" Danny screamed toward her, hissing from the pain in his stomach, "you can't do this!"

"Good luck, Danny, I'm going to miss you." Jezebel stepped through the gate, giving Danny one last smile before the doors closed, leaving Danny in the darkness alone.

"NO! What're you doing! Jezebel! Take it back! Don't do this! Come back!"

"The deal has been made," the Gatekeeper announced.

The darkness started to go away, the colours of green trees and a yellow sun burned Danny's eyes compared to that place, The Wandering.

Danny could feel his body surge with energy, his bones slowly beginning to reconstruct themselves. Danny pushed himself off of the ground, standing up tall, tears flowing down his face. _Jezebel, I won't let you down. _Danny's eyes snapped open, glowing a bright green colour full of rage, a ring formed around his waist before traveling along his entire body, transforming his average clothes into that of a black and white outfit. "Going ghost!"

A/N: Okay and before you ask, I've been planning on having Klayton as Venom since the very beginning! I was going to have it revealed later, but I wanted things to pick up a little bit! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	27. Going Ghost

Error's Rival

Chapter 27: Going Ghost

"Going Ghost!"

The temperature in the air seemed to decrease several degrees, Danny glanced down at his body; it felt so strange to him having this form again; if it had been any other situation he would've jumped with joy. His wounds slowly began to close up and his bones slowly began to mend.

Danny quickly wiped away the tears that rolled down from his eyes.

Venom twisted around while still holding Tucker up with his hand, having felt the sudden difference in the air. "No way." He snarled, "Impossible!" Quickly, Venom dropped Tucker, letting him fall with a thud and jumped into the air several feet, narrowing his eyes.

Sam looked up at Danny, eyes widening to complete circles, "Danny?" She blinked several times, "is…that really you!? How…" She knew that Danny couldn't hear her, but she couldn't help speaking her thoughts.

Venom clenched his teeth, he could always hear Klayton's thoughts in his mind, as well Klayton could hear Venom's thoughts. _How did this happen? _Both of them had the same question, however Venom's was a reaction of anger and fury while Klayton's was of surprise as well as happiness.

Danny looked up at Venom, glaring with those piercing green eyes. He seemed to vanish from sight when he launched himself into the air like a rocket; even Venom gasped slightly when Danny appeared a mere foot in front of him and delivered a strong punch to Venom's gut.

Venom was pushed back several feet. "Perhaps you aren't as strong as you used to be." He commented, "If I remember correctly you used to do much more damage than that. Are you not used to your powers yet?"

No responding, Danny remained still, continuing to stare down his opponent.

"Ah, or is it the fact that you don't want to hurt your _friend_. Are you holding back on me, Phantom? Not a wise choice."

"I'll save you."

"What?" Venom raised an eyebrow.

"I'll save you, I promised Jezebel."

"Ha! Are you ill, Phantom? _Save_ me? What a joke!" Venom jumped forward, red electricity sparking along his fingertips. "Your powers won't change the outcome! You and both of your friends will die here!"

"You're wrong." Danny narrowed his eyes, "Like I said before, I'll defeat you! With or without powers!"

"You're pathetic!" Venom pulled his fist back before striking Danny with full force in the jaw, adding a bit of ectoenergy to the punch to make it more effective. Danny pulled back as Venom punched him to make the impact less severe, but it still hurt badly. It didn't break any bones, so Danny didn't waste energy to heal it; if Venom had dented his bone or something then Danny would worry about fixing it right away.

"I'm going to ask you to release Sam." Danny jumped toward Venom again before he could attack. "I don't want to have to use force against you."

"Again with being soft, Phantom! Just come at me with all you've got!" He paused for a moment before chuckling, "I know you can't hear him, so Klayton wants me to pass on a message."

Danny raised an eyebrow, _it's like they speak to each other inside of him. _

"He says 'don't worry about me, just fight'. Or something like that…doesn't matter. I agree though, you need to step it up if you plan on winning."

"I don't have to win; I just have to make sure that you lose!" _I have to make sure I don't hurt Klay', I don't care if he wants me to go all out! I can't do that knowing he's there! I can't lose anyone else! _He bit his lip; the image of Jezebel walking in through those doors was still fresh in his mind.

Danny looked down at his hands with green energy surrounding them. Before, he only thought of his powers as an extra strength or a way of protection, now…he felt the ectoenergy in his body, knowing that Jezebel gave her life in exchange for these abilities. "I won't let her down!" Danny barked. He threw himself toward Venom, crashing into him with full force, pushing him downward directly into the ground.

"That's more like it, Phantom!" Venom laughed, seeming to be unaffected by this move. "But where's that cruel look in your eyes, the anger that burns inside of you and wants to come out! I've seen you use it before!"

"Shut up!" Danny barked.

"Come on, let's make this interesting." Venom, from his place beneath Danny looked directly into his eyes.

The feeling was almost immediate, his limbs suddenly became numb and he was suddenly not on top of Venom anymore, the two of them were alone in a sort of arena place. At least, they were alone at first. Danny looked around him in search of his friends but instead he saw himself at a separate place in the arena.

_"You will not come near me again! And you will not hurt anyone else! I will not let you!" he roared, "You will all pay for the lives that you took so easily! You will know the pain we endured! And I promise you that I will kill you!" He was no longer in control of his body; a dark shadow of himself was cast over his emotions and thoughts, forcing these words from his mouth. The child began to rise up off the ground, and the chains around him disintegrated on the spot._

The doctors scrambled, shoving to get out of the room. But before they could, the doors all sealed shut be an invisible force. Now they were trapped, and knew what was coming. His words had pierced their hearts and they knew he was serious about killing them. They knew they were going to die.

Danny looked down at the ground, screaming out with horror at all the blood pouring out of the bodies scattered across the ground. All of the bodies were of adults wearing lab coats.

The _other _him across the arena was covered head to toe in crimson liquid. "Stop!" Danny cried out to his other self.

Venom let out a cackling laugh, "_that _is the Phantom that I want to fight!"

"You bastard!" Danny growled, "What did you…" He then remembered. "This is one of your illusions!" Danny remembered when he was in the forest with Venom and Venom had used his illusions to mess with him. He glanced down once more, it sure looked real! The blood looked real! He could even smell the blood! "Stop messing with my head!" He tried to sound confident and strong, but the truth was he couldn't take it. Remembering the past was so much to think about; he never wanted to relive any of that ever again!

The bodies began to fade away, the arena disappeared and Danny was once again looking down at Venom on the grass field. He quickly jumped off of Venom, using his arms and legs to scramble away like a frightened puppy. His forehead was thick with sweat, his breathing was fast and his heart was racing. He blinked several times in an attempt to make the images go away to the back of his mind once more.

"Danny!?" Both Sam and Tucker cried out his name, they had watched as Danny seemed to go into a trance and suddenly went pale and then he had started yelling. "What happened?" Sam asked Tucker.

Tucker shrugged, "I have no idea." He bit his lip, "this isn't good."

"Go away! Go away!" Danny rubbed his eyes with his hands, he knew that the illusion was gone, but the memory still remained.

Venom, even though no one else could hear it, was being yelled at by the Klayton deep within his mind and it was annoying him. Klayton told him to stop hurting Danny, which Venom continued to ignore. _You have to remember, Klayton, _Venom said, _everything I do is part of you as well and everything you do is part of me. We're not separate beings; we're the same, we share the same body, the same memories…_

Venom got up and walked toward Danny, "I know you remember that, you may have tried to forget but it won't work. That version of you, that power that drives you, I want to fight that. I want to see you at your strongest, Phantom! You may even have a slight chance of winning then!" he laughed.

"You disgust me!" Danny snarled, tears rolling down his face. "I'll never become that again!"

"Oh really?" Venom grabbed a fistful of Danny's hair. Danny's eyes went wide with a somewhat blank stare, he grit his teeth and let out a cry of horror at the memory Venom was forcing him to have. This time, Danny was reminded of the time he killed the men that had kidnapped Sam. He could see every gory detail once more, could see the damage he had caused. "You'll never become that again? I know that you've turned into that a number of times."

"Leave me alone!" Danny grabbed at Venom's hands, trying to force him to release him.

"You're wrong about one thing, Phantom. I'm not only capable of creating illusions; I can see everything you have crammed inside of that head of yours, your memories your thoughts and even your feelings. I know that you are afraid, you're afraid of losing to me because you want to keep your promise to that woman Allison."

Danny knew that he was at such a great disadvantage, if it was just power vs power he might have a chance of winning, but with Venom being able to mess with him like this, Danny was basically helpless.

"And also," Venom grinned, "I am capable of forcing you to relive every painful experience you've ever had. How long do you think you would last against that? Should we see?"

_Does he plan on killing me like this? Using my past to torture me to death!? _Danny cringed at the very thought of feeling the pain from his childhood, all those experiments… being scarred on his back with the large X, being zapped from the chip on his spine… Danny tried again to desperately pull away from Venom. "You're sick! You think that messing with my head will force me to bring out my _evil _powers!?"

"Well, we'll see, right?"

--

Tucker continued to punch at the bubble Sam was trapped in, even shooting it a few times with an ectogun but nothing was working. "Sam, it won't break!"

Sam exhaled deeply, "I don't think there's much we can do." Her head shot up when she heard Danny scream, both her and Tucker looked over to where Venom and Danny had been fighting. They both saw Danny on his hands and knees right before he fell down to the ground on his side, twitching and curling up into the fetal position. "Danny!!" She looked at Tucker, "go help him!"

Tucker nodded and grabbed onto the large gun on the ground before running toward Venom and Danny.

--

Danny felt a needle plunge into his skin; he looked up at Rafael with horror as the transformation began. The day that he was created into the half ghost that he was. "It's not real, it's not real!" He wanted to believe that it was just an illusion but everything before him was too real to be fake! He dropped to the ground, letting out a scream.

Venom crossed his arms, watching the scene before him without feeling the slightest bit of regret. _Stop it! _Klayton begged deep within their mind, _you can't keep doing this! Don't do this to him! _Klayton knew all too well what that transformation felt like, having been through something very similar to it which had created Venom inside of him.

From the distance, a large ball of ectoplasm shot in their direction. Venom turned his attention that way, which caused the illusion Danny was in to stop. Danny ceased to convulse, he breathed deeply as he regained reality.

"Leave my friend alone!" Tucker barked at Venom.

"Damn you." Venom snarled, charging at Tucker with a hand full of red energy, "I'm tried of you getting in the way! Both you and that girl!"

Tucker was unable to dodge the attack; his eyes went wide when Venom's fist drove into his gut. Tucker fell back, having been electrocuted when he was punched, and was out cold. Venom turned to look at Sam, who remained inside the bubble and put his hand in the air toward her, slowly pulling his fingers together. The bubble's walls began to close in on Sam as Venom's fingers closed in. She let out a small cry when she was forced into a cramped ball, unable to move, but Venom didn't continue to the point that she was killed. Then he narrowed his eyes, which somehow caused red sparks to appear all around the bubble and at the same time, the electric volts hit Sam.

Danny looked toward her. His eyes widening and horror overtook him. The image entered his mind of that time long ago when Rafael hurt Sam in order to get Danny to give in and agree to do whatever he wanted. His hands pulled into tight fists, teeth beginning to grind together and his breathing became spastic gasps of breath. "Let her go!!" Without even thinking, he jumped up into the air, flying like a rocket toward Venom and threw his elbow into Venom's chest, hearing a bone snap in the process.

Venom was knocked to the ground and Danny immediately jumped on top of him, striking him across the face several times with his fists. He grabbed onto a weapon within reach that had been dropped (probably by him) during their battle earlier, it had a sharp tip like a knife, but was the length of a sword. Danny held the tip of the weapon up to Venom's neck, staring deep into his blood red eyes, only his eyes, not looking at his face.

Venom smirked and closed his eyes for a moment, when he reopened them they were purple. Danny inhaled deeply. It had been the ferocious red eyes that kept him from seeing Klayton's face on this person, but with those eyes, Klayton's eyes, Danny realized that it was his friend's body. He pulled back the weapon immediately.

"You are weak!" Venom grabbed Danny by the neck, releasing a great amount of ectoelectricity into Danny's system for a brief moment while also twisting around so that they soon were in opposite positions, now Danny was on his back with Venom on him, pinning him down.

"Let Sam go!" Danny hissed. He looked over at Tucker then at Sam, "Please let her go!" It wasn't a demand anymore; it was a plea.

"Heh, Klayton's been saying the same thing."

"Your fight is with me! Not Sam!" He continued to glance over in Sam's direction, biting his lip with fear that she might…might die… "Let her go! Please!" He said again.

Venom grinned, "you can't even protect the woman you love, Phantom!? Pathetic!" He looked toward Sam and watched as she lost consciousness. "Looks like she didn't last long either."

Danny's eyebrows pulled together looking at Sam and realizing that she wasn't moving. "You _bastard_!!"

Venom narrowed his eyes when he felt the pressure in the air change. Danny looked back at him, his eyes starting to glow dangerously and his body beginning to let off an extremely large amount of ectoenergy to the point that he was lit up like a light bulb. Venom grinned, "It's about time." He muttered low enough that Danny didn't hear him. "Now this should be interesting."

Danny let out a roar; fangs began to extend from his mouth like a wild animal. He tried to fight against it but the anger inside of him overpowered his will to hold back, but soon there was no thought process within him other than to destroy Venom without mercy. "Die." He snarled, pulling his knees up to his chest before kicking them up at Venom who had still been holding him down.

Venom jumped up into the air, watching as Danny stood up. Klayton knew that Sam wasn't dead, she had simply lost consciousness and he wanted so badly to call out to his friend and tell him that she was okay. He hated to see Danny in such a pained state that he lost control of his powers.

Danny followed Venom into the air, charging his fists with bright green energy. Once the two of them were at the same height, Danny charged forward, snarling rabidly, bring his hand back to deliver a punch.

Venom brought his arm up and caught Danny's punch in his hand, eyes narrowing a bit when he struggled a bit to hold Danny back. Danny whipped his other arm out and swung it toward Venom, hitting him across the side of the head. While Venom was slightly dazed, Danny continued to attack; he brought his leg up and kicked Venom very hard in the ribs while at the same time punching him again across his face.

Danny rose up a few feet above Venom and charged up energy in his palm, throwing it at his opponent while he was recovering from the last attack. Venom was knocked out of the air, crashing into the ground. Danny dove downward, letting out a cackling laugh "what? Done already?"

"Not even close!" Venom literally appeared behind Danny, kicking him hard enough that he plummeted to the ground even faster, "I just wanted to see how strong your attack would be. Now that I know, we can get this fight started!"

Danny managed to catch himself before he hit the ground and redirected himself so that he flew into the air once more. "If you think that's all my power you're in for a surprise!" He bared his fangs like a wolf.

"We'll see."

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	28. Venom Vs Phantom

Error's Rival

Chapter 28: Venom vs. Phantom

"I'll kill you Venom!" Danny roared, growling deep within his throat. He charged at Venom/Klayton, his blood churning deep within him menacingly. A dark aura seemed to surround his whole body as it filled with hatred and malice. He reached his claws forward as he neared his enemy. Venom raised his arms into the air to block the attack and hissed when Danny dug his nails deep into his forearms.

Danny's mouth pulled into a large grin, putting more force into his hands to the point that his talons hit the bone within Venom's arms. While still holding Venom's forearms, Danny brought both his feet up and kicked Venom in the stomach. Normally, the force from the blow would've sent Venom flying, but Danny had a firm grip on him, so he stayed in place.

Venom cackled with laughter despite the immense pain he was in, "Excellent! Now you're beginning to fight for real, Phantom!"

Smirking, Danny replied "sorry to keep you waiting. But I'm going to finish this fight quickly; I don't want to waste my time on weaklings like you." He twisted his wrists around, unfortunately for Venom, his arms didn't want to bend that far and a sickly crack was the result. "I won't give you time to heal!" Danny released his hold on Venom's arms and swung around 360 degrees, bringing his leg up and delivering a powerful kick to Venom's face.

Venom went with the blow, but managed to catch himself before plummeting downward. He quickly used a bit of energy to repair the bone. "Don't act so tough so soon, Phantom! Do you really believe that I am using my full power?"

"I hope you aren't. That would be no fun."

Tucker watched the action from below, his eyes wide with confusion and fear. "Is that…really Danny?" He quickly turned back to Sam, who was still crammed painfully inside the bubble. "Sam! Answer me! Please just say something!" He couldn't break through the bubble. He didn't know if she was dead or not… "Damn it. Danny, pull yourself together!" He grit his teeth, "fighting like this won't help at all!"

Venom's hand, charged with energy, came within inches of Danny's face; before he received a mouthful of pain, he brought his arm up and smacked the attack away from his face. Too close. He used the advantage he was given and wrapped both his arms around Venom's arm which was right next to Danny's face at the time. Firmly grasping the limb, Danny kicked his legs up to the left and swung them around, bringing them up between him and Venom. He forced his heel down upon Venom's shoulder, knowing full well that he tore the muscle as well as shattered the bone.

"Those kinds of attacks won't cause any permanent damage, Phantom. You should know that! I'll just keep healing myself!" Venom rolled his shoulder, as though proving his point.

"I wasn't trying to defeat you with that attack! I was just trying to have a little fun before killing you!"

Venom grinned, "I like those eyes, Phantom." He stared into the deep pools of swirling red energy, full of hatred and the instinct to destroy. The fangs baring from Phantom's mouth gave him the savage look that made Venom want to fight him even more!

Danny roared and charged, relentlessly bringing down punch after punch, kick after kick. Venom did everything he could to block the attacks, but even he was having difficulty. Danny's mind was fogged with the animal instinct to kill. His thoughts of his friends, his family and his goals seemed to burn away with the fire spreading through his veins.

"Damn…" Venom was unable to bring his arm up in time as Danny's foot crashed into him. The power and strength was unbelievable. Air whistled past his ears on his way down to the ground. Dirt sprung up all around him on impact; he could feel the injuries like constant vibrations with every heartbeat. Klayton's cry echoed within Venom's mind. He then realized that his eyes were closed on instinct and quickly reopened them just in time to see Danny's following attack on his already broken body.

Danny dropped down toward his enemy feet first and collided with Venom. A deep indent appeared in the ground all around Venom, and the force caused blood to spurt from his mouth. Danny jumped up a few feet again and went down once more as though trying to force a shovel into the dirt.

Venom grit his teeth, although he wasn't letting out any cry of pain, in the back of his head he could hear Klayton moaning and crying in agony. Venom narrowed his eyes; he knew that Klayton couldn't handle the same attacks as he could. However, Klayton would be safe as long as he let Venom do the work, when Venom was released their defense and strength increased incredibly. But Venom's immunity to pain was greater than Klayton's. With Venom in control, they both took the same damage, they both healed the same, but their pain tolerance was different.

Venom used his elbows to pull himself into a sit and quickly got off the ground. He focused his energy and managed to teleport behind Danny. Danny growled, twisting his head to face Venom but got a bone-crunching punch to the jaw before he could attack. He recoiled back, snarling rabidly. Venom held off on healing himself and focused all of his energy into his attack.

Danny's eyes widened a bit when Venom began to move faster than he could follow.

He grabbed Danny's shoulders while facing him and pulled Danny's upper body down while bringing his knee up so that Danny was struck in the stomach with Venom's knee. Danny coughed from the hit, and a moment later he felt his right hand pulled up and over his shoulder and his left hand was pulled back behind him. Venom held him in a lock position, tugging just enough that Danny couldn't use his arms.

"Damn you."

"I would love to continue this fight with you, believe me, but you're becoming too sloppy for my taste, maybe next time you'll be more fun to play with." Venom chuckled and quickly sent a great deal of electricity though Danny's body.

A shriek echoed from the back of his throat as pain coursed through his veins and muscles. He became limp in Venom's arms, still having his arms pulled behind him uncomfortably. Barking a laugh, Danny spoke up, "you think that I'll _let _you leave!? You've got to be kidding! Don't underestimate me, Venom!"

Venom could feel the build up of ectoenergy in Danny's body and then saw what he was planning. Energy began to flow into Danny's hands; Venom knew that he was planning to send them backward toward him. He quickly brought his foot up and drove it into Danny's back with a powerful strike.

The energy flow stopped and Danny let out a hiss. "Let go of me!" Danny charged up energy once again, but this time it wasn't much of a flow, it was more of a quick spark. Venom's eyes widened briefly but he was unable to get away before Danny released the energy in one large explosion.

It was a good attack, Venom admitted, but also stupid. The sudden attack did some damage to him, that was for sure, but it _also_ would do some damage to Danny. They were both burned by it.

Danny stopped in midair, biting down on his lip to focus his mind elsewhere. His entire back was stinging terribly with hot burns. Pieces of the back of his suit were burned away, but it still held together enough. Danny took a moment to heal the burns just enough for them to stop pulsing and biting at his flesh. He used as little as he needed because he still needed energy to fight.

"Is it just me, or are your attacks getting weaker, Phantom?" Venom continued.

"You'll be taking those words, back, Venom!" Danny filled both his hands up with a great deal of ectoenergy, sparking and buzzing with intensity. "Let's go!" He launched himself toward Venom. Venom copied Danny's attack, bringing energy into his own hands, and waited for Danny to reach him. Danny's eyes flared with nearly blinding light, a roar unlike one Venom had heard before rang in his ears.

Venom's eyes narrowed. _His power is…increasing? _

Danny's claws seemed to stretch a bit further, and his fangs extended to the point that it was digging into his skin unless he kept his mouth open.

"Damn it!" Venom put his hands forward, creating a dome around himself in order to defend Danny's attack. It was a head on collision; Danny brought both of his hands forward and shattered the shield instantly.

"Is that all you've got!?" That voice again, the shrieking roar like nails on a chalkboard. "You're nothing but a weakling in my way!" Danny brought his fist down on Venom, knocking him down out of the air completely. "Die!" He followed his enemy while he was plummeting to the ground and roundhouse kicked him in the stomach to force Venom to fall even faster. "And to think that I ever had difficulty fighting you!"

Danny watched as Venom hit the ground and waited a few moments before deciding to go down there. He landed softly on the ground and made his way over to Venom's motionless body. "Pathetic." He grinned.

To his surprise, Venom chuckled. "Are you sure about that?" He reached over to his weapon arm and pushed something on it.

Danny felt a shiver go up his spine, sensing the danger just before it happened. He jumped up into the air to avoid whatever sort of attack Venom was planning on using but wasn't able to escape. In a circle, small devices had been placed around Danny and he hadn't noticed them until red bolts came shooting out of them directly at him and trapping him there.

Every muscle in his body seemed to freeze, he couldn't get away from it and a moment later Danny felt the other effect of the bolts. Lighting up like a Christmas tree, Danny felt the energy coursing through his whole body; it was much like Venom's shocking attack except this one was stronger.

Venom stood up from his spot, his eyes fixed on Danny who was screaming with agony. "You have great strength, Phantom, but you don't think before you act, and that's why you lose."

The red energy ceased. Danny felt his legs give out immediately and he collapsed onto the grass.

"Interesting, I'm surprised you're still breathing, Phantom. But it looks like you can't move much anymore."

Facedown on the grass, Danny inhaled and exhaled, feeling his heart beating rapidly within his chest. His body trembled for a moment as the fiery energy calmed down a bit, he could feel the fangs in his mouth shrink and while it was a relief to have that crazy power gone, it was also such a burden not having it. His instincts to fight could block out the physical pain in his body, and he didn't have to worry about what move he would do next, his body just attacked in every way possible, not thinking about the success or the consequences.

_For a while…it was like I forgot the whole reason I even started attacking Venom. I wasn't thinking about Klayton or that I was hurting him. I wasn't thinking of anything! _Danny closed his hand into a fist. His body still on high alert, he could sense that Venom was waiting for him to get up again. His senses also picked up on something else. He could hear something… Danny glanced up and in the distance he could see Tucker, looking directly at him. _I can hear him…he's breathing quickly and his heart is racing. Is he worried? _Then, Danny sensed something else as well.

Even in an injured and broken down state, Danny's heart fluttered with absolute joy at that moment. _I can hear it! Sam! I can hear her heart! She's breathing! She's alive! _Danny smiled to himself. He hadn't been sure if she was dead or alive, but just the thought of her being dead had caused Danny's emotions to go crazy.

His talons retracted into his fingers, the tension within his muscles seemed to loosen inside of his body. Focusing all his energy to his arms, Danny tried to lift himself up.

"You seem too relaxed, Phantom. What happened to that intensity?" Venom crossed his arms impatiently.

"You're not as clever as you think you are, Venom. You were trying that whole time to get me to fight you like that. Too bad for you, I've finally come to my senses."

"Well, that's just boring. Well, the only chance you had of defeating me was to fight while in that state, so now that you're not, you should know that there's not a chance of you winning."

"Won't know until we try!" Danny was indeed happy to learn that his friends were alright, but he also had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Venom was right; he didn't have much of a chance as of now. _If I can lead Venom away from Sam and Tucker, perhaps they can find a way to escape and I might have time to retreat and catch up with them. It's worth a try. _Danny turned intangible, dropping down below the surface of the ground and started flying away from Sam and Tucker.

It was much more difficult to fly under the ground, you couldn't see where you were going at all and it was pitch black all around.

"This is your getaway plan?"

Danny gasped, looking around him in search of Venom. Where was he? He was definitely hiding his ectoplasmic signature because Danny was unable to sense him. Letting out a yelp, Danny had his wrist grabbed and he was suddenly launched upward out of the ground until he surfaced where Venom was waiting for him.

His surroundings were not different; he was basically in the same place as before only several yards away from where he went below ground. Venom's moves were too fast! Danny wasn't even able to feel the punch until he was soaring through the air, coming to an abrupt halt when his back collided with a large tree. The large, skyscraping tree was nearly ripped out of the ground, the dirt had large mounds appear due to the roots pulling. Danny's mouth was open, as though to scream, but no sound came out. He couldn't breathe for a several frightening seconds.

Venom laughed. "I know all about it, Phantom. I know how much you think that Klayton is your dear friend, but he's been deceiving you for so long it's amazing how you didn't notice! This bastard didn't even come back to try and rescue you from that hell of a place, instead, he was having the time of his life with Allison and Jezebel. It's sad how cruel people can be, isn't it, Phantom?"

"Shut up! You don't even know what you're talking about!"

"Do you recall when you had just been revived from the dead and you had to use everything you had just to get back home? If those people really cared about you, they would've come to rescue you long before! You didn't even realize how cruel you were being! With that deal you made with the Gatekeeper!"

At this, Danny's eyes widened. "Don't go there!" he warned dangerously.

"Oh? And why's that? Things never seem to work out how we want them, right? This isn't any different than one of those times."

"I said quit it!" Danny made a move to go forward but immediately stopped in his tracks when pain shot through his spine. The collision with the tree did a number of things to him, he was lucky that his spine wasn't broken! _I don't have a ton of energy left; I should heal myself because otherwise I won't be able to move! _"You don't understand!" What Danny meant to say to Venom was more along the lines of: You don't understand because you don't have someone in your life that you would do anything and everything for. I was willing to do anything to see Sam again, and unfortunately, that wish backfired into something ugly.

Danny closed his eyes, his mind racing with so many thoughts.

Venom's ectoenergy sparked to life, a red glow shown on his body as he started to make his way toward Danny."It was fun while it lasted, Phantom." Venom chuckled, his hands twitched lightly.

Danny's eyes remained closed. "You…you hurt me and my friends countless times. You tried to kill us! And you used Klayton's body for all of it! Don't you dare think that you can take them away from me! I won't forgive you for what you have done to us! You bastard!" His eyes shot open, "I won't…_forgive you_!"

Venom's eyes widened as the pressure in the air suddenly changed rapidly. As Danny yelled those last words, they seemed to echo from his mouth and Venom saw large green sonic waves begin to fly in his direction. The moment those waves crashed into him, not only was his entire body lifted off the ground, his head felt like it was being torn open. The sound was so powerful and painful. He threw his hands up to his ears, but that didn't seem to help.

Danny felt the last of his energy drain almost instantly. His vocal chords strained with agony, but he held out his wail for as long as he could. He came to his limit. The ghostly wail died down, Danny collapsed onto his hands and knees, gasping for breath. His vision was hazy, and his limbs trembled.

Venom lay on the ground, stunned for several moments and his head still aching intensely. "What…the hell was that!?" He brought himself into a stand for a few seconds before he wobbled and collapsed again. "Damn it all!" Even in his -what appeared to be- drunken state, Venom forced himself into a stand, using a bit of energy to get rid of the dull throb in his head. Hobbling across the grass, Venom chuckled darkly "impressive attack, Phantom. But that seems to be your final act." He stood in front of Danny and then grabbed a fist full of Danny's white hair, pulling his head up so that his neck was exposed.

Venom pulled out a knife that had been hidden from sight beneath his cloak; he pressed the sharp edge of it up to Danny's throat putting just enough force to draw forth blood.

He was tensing his muscle, ready for the final blow when his senses picked up on something. He twisted his head to the right as a ghostly figure of a woman appeared. "Stop this now! Both of you!"

"Noella?" Danny gasped, gazing limply up at his aunt. "What…" His words began to slur to the point that they couldn't be heard.

"You again?" Venom smirked, "good you came just in time for the finale!"

"Please, Klayton, come to your senses!" Noella barked. "Is this really what you think is right? Do you think that Allison would be cheering you on right now? Think about all the pain you have caused for not only others, but yourself as well!"

Venom raised an eyebrow, but could feel Klayton react to those words "What the hell are you talking about!? You're just trying to stall me, aren't you?"

"I've watched you; I know that you care for your sister a great deal. I also know that you've betrayed her multiple times with such actions as these! You didn't realize how it made her feel that you did such activities!"

Venom/Klayton seemed to react to the mention of Jezebel. "Shut up!"

"Do you hate your friends, your family? I certainly think so; why else would someone go to so much trouble to cause so much pain among others."

"Why are you telling me this!?" Venom barked, his eyes narrowed toward Noella with a murderous intent. "You think I'll listen to what you have to say!?"

"Wake up, Klayton! Do you really think that Venom is in control of your life right now! You're still the dominant one! Take back your body!"

"It's useless!" Venom snickered, "I'm stronger than him! There's no way he could win against me. You're wasting your time! When I was first put inside of his body, this poor bastard was so caught up in human emotions it was annoying having to listen to him! But over time, he's gotten better at thinking things through, ignoring what his human feelings have to say and looking at reality."

"You can't believe that, Venom! A human will always have human feelings, human emotions. You can't take that away!" Noella barked.

"That's what you believe, which is what makes you people so pathetic. You always see the good in others, or you always see the bad. You judge too much on appearance and actions rather than their feelings. Klayton here always craved power, he always wanted to become stronger and I know for a fact that he took the lives of some humans without regret."

"That is completely bull!" Danny barked, hissing between his grit teeth.

"Please Venom, think rationally!"

Venom glanced toward Noella, "you may think that I'm weak, woman, but I do have several convenient powers that you don't know about. For example, my eyes can tell that you're not really here right now. You've just created a stupid copy of yourself. I know that you have used that before when you were visiting both Danny and Sam in different parts of the country! So you really can't do anything right now, can you?"

Noella was silent, which seemed to confirm Venom's words. "You've always been annoying!" Venom raised his hand up, palm toward the ghostly woman. A strange red wave of ectoenergy seemed to pulse out from Venom's hand; Danny could feel his body tremble for a slight moment. Venom's strange attack seemed to have an effect on Noella because the image of her body seemed to shutter in an out of view for a few seconds before vanishing.

"What did you do to her?" Danny meant to sound demanding, but his hollow tone kept him from doing so.

"I didn't do anything to her, I just got rid of her illusion copy self."

Danny's heart sank quickly. At Noella's arrival, he thought that they had a chance, but now he knew that she couldn't help them right now if she was elsewhere. His mind turned back to the situation he was currently in. His scalp felt almost numb from Klayton gripping his hair and the knife Venom held was just centimeters away from his neck.

Danny briefly closed his eyes. _Jezebel. Tucker. Klayton. Sam. I'm fighting for all of you! I can't give up here! Damn it! _"Klayton is different from you, Venom! Even if he used your powers before, even if he hurt a few people he is still different from you because he has something to fight for! You fight for the pure joy of hurting someone! The Klayton I know would never do that! He cares about us! You will never understand what friendship is! You're just a damn experiment from Rafael! You think I'll die here!? I'll never lose to you! I made a promise, and I'll keep pushing through any trials until I fulfill it!"

Clenching his jaw to the point that his teeth ground together, Danny yanked himself away from Venom's grasp, several of his hairs were pulled out in the process, but he quickly backed away from Venom, creating some distance between them. He didn't have much time and he had to think of a plan quickly. He was nearly out of energy and he couldn't move very well. _Be creative! _Danny snarled, _I'm not weak! Even without much energy I can defeat him! I'll have to put the last of my ectoenergy into this attack._

A dark glow began to fill in Danny's hand, a mixture of green and blue swirls seemed to cram into a small space, each of them colliding and pushing against the other. The energy slowly began to take shape, stretching several feet in length. Danny charged forward, clasping his hand around the hilt of his newly created weapon. A sword made completely of ice and ectoenergy seemed to feel like a feather in Danny's hand, he could move it around so well in was incredible!

Venom smirked, "with your speed and ability right now, do you really think you can beat me with _that_!? You've completely run out of options!" He waited for Danny to reach him but was a bit surprised when he saw Danny throw the sword at him. Almost laughing at the attempt, Venom sidestepped to avoid being hit. But Danny kept running forward. _He had to have known I would not be hit, so what the hell was he thinking!?_

Danny roared a battle cry, bringing his hands up. Venom also brought his hands up and wrapped his fingers around Danny's fists.

"Is that it?" Then Venom's eyes narrowed when his hands began to freeze, literally, with ice. "What the hell are you doing?" Their faces inches apart, Danny smirked, the ice had also covered his own hands and because their hands were clasped together, they were now stuck to each other. The ice traveled up to their elbows.

"Did you think I threw that sword without a reason?"

Venom looked at Danny. "What…" His ear twitched a bit when he heard a small whistle from behind him. He didn't have time to look around; he had been too focused on Danny's strange ice technique that he didn't even think about the sword behind him; And not only that, he still had some of the annoying effects from that strange wail, which had affected him quite a bit.

The sword came charging in their direction at an incredible speed! Venom soon felt the sword drive completely through his back and out from his stomach, unfortunately it also managed to pierce Danny in the gut.

Danny's eyes went wide as he heaved in and out for a few moments. Blood made its way up his throat and dripped out of the corner of his mouth. He looked up into the eyes of his enemy and his friend, "Make sure you don't die, Klay'." Danny's eyes rolled back and he fainted with exhaustion. Venom had to hold Danny up for two reasons, the first was that their hands were attached so he didn't want Danny dragging him down, second was because if Danny fell down the sword that was sticking through both of them would be forced to move around and if that happened it could cause some serious damage.

Even Venom knew that he wasn't immortal; he could only handle a certain amount of damage. "So you threw the sword on purpose to get it behind me…" Venom chuckled, "and you added your own ectoenergy into it so that you could control it to come after us when you froze my hands to yours…clever but stupid, Phantom. I haven't passed out, and I can guarantee that I can break away from your ice!"

"If you dare move, I swear I will blow your head off."

"You!? How did you…" Venom recognized that female voice immediately. Behind him was both Tucker and Sam, each of them held a gun to Venom's head.

"Sam has been conscious for a little bit, and thanks to Danny's act there your attention was brought completely over here and whatever freaking trick you used for that strange bubble was then let up quite a bit which gave us the chance to get her out." Tucker quickly explained, "And at the moment it seems like you're pretty helpless."

Even though Sam and Tucker tried to act like their only focus was to capture Venom, it most definitely wasn't. Their attention was on both Klayton and Danny, wondering if they were alright.

"Do you really have the guts to shoot me, Sam?" Venom innocently inquired of Sam, nearly smirking at her.

At this statement, Sam thrust her gun forward so that it was pressing up against Venom's neck. "The man I love was just stabbed with a freaking sword; do you really want to be making any smart remarks at me?" Her lip curled with fury and she was trembling a bit.

At this point, Venom couldn't quite tell if she was bluffing or not. Venom assumed that she wouldn't dare want to hurt him because Klayton was also a part of his body, but he couldn't deny the anger burning in Sam's eyes.

"You try and escape from me, you'll regret it." Sam snapped, taking a step forward and pulling out a metal band, she quickly snapped it around Venom's neck. He felt the effects immediately, as though his energy was being sucked right out of him! She also put a band around both of his arms.

Venom's head fell forward to his chest with weakness. "Damn it…" He chuckled, "looks like I didn't think about you two." He then noticed that it wasn't just those two anymore. Two others had also apparently joined them when he wasn't paying attention. His vision was blurry, but he could see that the ice holding him and Danny together was carefully broken apart and then came the painful part.

Danny howled with agony when the end of the sword was pulled out of his stomach, he was immediately wrapped up with layers of cloth to block the wound.

_Hey Klayton, you still alive in there? _Venom asked. _Obviously_ Klayton replied, _if I were dead, you would know, trust me._

_Will you be okay, though? _

Klayton chuckled. _Worried about me? _

_I have to. Well, not about you, but I have to worry if you're alive or not;_ _because if you die, that's bad news for me as well._

_Yeah I know…I'm going to…sleep…for a bit…_ Klayton grunted, unable to take the pain of the sword through his torso any longer. Venom however, could stand the pain.

_Go ahead. And congratulations…your friends defeated me. _

Klayton smirked. _I thought they would. You underestimate them too much, Venom. They're strong, not just physically. _

_This time…it looks like you're right. _Venom admitted. _That doesn't mean I'm willing to accept it though. _

_Are you going to give up here? That doesn't seem like you at all. _

Venom nodded, he knew very well that if he desperately wanted to, he had a bit of energy to possibly make an escape. _No, this time, the win goes to Phantom. I'm done here for now. _He was pulled away from his thoughts when he felt the sword being pulled out of his stomach. Even for him, that was quite painful. The two adults dressed in orange and blue were very careful and cautious as they pulled on the weapon, making sure that they didn't cause any more damage.

Venom's first instinct would be to heal himself, but considering that the weapon was still _inside _him, he would only be healing himself and have a sword sticking out of his body forever. Then he would be injured again when he had to pull it out! Also Venom knew that his energy was significantly drained by the strange things that Sam had put on him, so he wouldn't be able to heal well at the moment.

Sam immediately dropped down to Danny, who had been laid out across the grass while Maddie and Jack both went over to assist Venom. "Danny, you idiot!" She would've punched him if he weren't injured and unconscious, "what were you trying to do there!? I've never seen you do something so stupid before!"

"Well…" Tucker interrupted, "he's done many stupid things, you can't deny that. I don't know if this is the stupidest, but it's definitely in the top ten." Tucker's mouth pulled into a smile and he whispered to himself, "I'm glad you're okay, Danny."

Sam and Tucker both turned their attention to Venom when they heard him scream. Feeling sick to her stomach, Sam closed her eyes as the sword was slowly pulled out of Venom's body.

"Jack, we need to get them both back to the lab immediately. I'll call Jazz and have her set everything up; we need to operate right away to prevent any risk of organ failure!" Maddie pressed bandages onto the gaping wound to stop the ectoplasm from oozing out.

Sam narrowed her eyes a bit, "Tucker? How did the Fenton's know to come here?"

"While you were still in the bubble I called Danny's house to get some help. Shortly after I called was when you became conscious again."

Sam nodded. "Miss Fenton? Will he be alright?"

Danny's injury was quite shallow compared to Venom's and hadn't pierced through any vital organs. Sam knew for a fact that with time, his injuries would get better. Venom on the other hand had just been run through by a sword!

"We need to operate immediately. We'll know more after that."

Did that mean that there was a possibility that he would…die? Sam bit her lip, hoping from the bottom of her heart that Klayton and Venom would pull through somehow.

--

None of them could sense his presence at all, not only did he do well to hide his ectoplasmic signature, he also had great eyes so he could watch the scene and not have to be close to the action. The creature of a boy crouched down on a tree branch. The boy saw the battle end, being quite surprised with the outcome, and quickly took off into the distance.

Fire surrounded most of his body; his animal appearance was terrifying to look at. Pyrros was flying through the air, heading back to his home where he planned on reporting what he had just seen to his father. However, during mid-flight, Pyrros's hands were brought up to his head as images began to flash before his eyes.

"No!" He shouted, "Damn it! You shouldn't be here! Father got rid of you!"

_"I made something for you; it should help you control the deeper part of yourself. I also created something to get rid of those memories that you complained about." _

"Y-yes, thank you, father!" Pyrros hated having the memories, the memories that he knew weren't his. He remembered the boy, his brother, mentioning that he was created from another person…is it true that those were that person's memories? They were vague, and often only like a background noise, but they were there nonetheless. But now they would be gone, and he would be able to control himself more.

"Get away!" Pyrros felt tears well up in his eyes as the painful emotions that Allison used to bear came flooding into him. He hated having a human soul inside of an ectoplasmic body, it wasn't right; it was too much for him. "What do I do?" He asked himself. He couldn't deal with this, his body began to tremble. "Answer me!! What do I do!? Allison! How did you do this!? How did you handle this? Answer me!" Tears continued to roll down his face, but despite that, he continued to go forward, with the painful emotions weighing him down the entire time.

**A/N: Whoa! How long has it been? Too long, definitely! And I sincerely apologize! Please forgive me! And I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! ** **I think I dragged out the fight a bit too long, I went a little overboard, so I apologize for that as well.**


	29. Escape

Error's Rival

Chapter 29: Escape

"_Sam, Tucker, we'll call you in the morning, for now you should go home and get some rest. You've had a long day." Maddie placed a hand on their shoulders, giving them a warm smile. "Don't worry, we'll keep an eye on both of them." _

Sam sat on her bed, unable to sleep even though her eyes were barely open due to exhaustion. She finally walked over to her bathroom to take a shower, she could feel her skin covered in dry sweat. While she piled her clothes into the basket next to the shower, she then put her hands behind her neck to take off her necklace for the shower.

Her eyes lowered to look at the orb on the chain, looking at the brilliant glowing light illuminating from it. A smile was brought to her lips, remembering the time when Danny had given it to her and also remembering the time she had spent with a heavy, black orb around her neck. Now it was back to normal. She wrapped her hands around it, feeling the warmth of it against her skin.

She felt closer to Danny having this around her neck. It was comforting to her.

After a long, hot shower Sam changed into some pajamas and went over to her desk. Raising an eyebrow, she glanced down at the letter that someone had put on her desk. Sam suspected that her maid, Celeste had put it there before her parents could get their hands on it. It was a bill, Sam noticed, and picked it up. "Oh, yeah…" She muttered, realizing what it was.

Her eyes widened a slight bit at the amount of money she needed to pay. It's not that she couldn't pay for it, but she wasn't expecting it to be that much. Oh well, she thought. She dropped the bill onto her desk again and went over to her bed.

--

"Jazz, can you do me a favor and put up another IV for Klayton?" Maddie quickly inquired, leaning over Klayton while he lay on the operation table. Jack was on the other side, handing different tools to Maddie while she worked on repairing any damage to his organs. Jack was very good with medical things, but operation was something that Maddie did better.

Venom had already done an amazing job with his incredibly fast healing, but Klayton still needed some medical attention.

"Mom, is he going to be alright?" Jazz asked quietly while she hung up a new bag of liquid for Klayton. "You've been at this for hours."

Maddie sighed, "there was some significant damage to his body. Blood clots, organ failure, bone fractures. I'm doing all I can to fix it before it's too late."

Even Jazz could hear the worry in her mother's voice.

"Danny should be fine in a few days, all he needs now is some rest." Maddie added. Danny had been placed on a separate table on the far side of the room. This particular piece was surrounded with a white tent-like structure, creating a clean environment for Klayton to avoid any bacteria entering his wounds.

"Mom, we can't keep going on like this. All of this has been Danny and his friends acting on their own with what they think is right, but all of that has got them into trouble. Do you really think we should just let them do whatever they want? If it gets bad enough, they could die! All of them!"

"Jazz, this is what it's been like for Danny his whole life. We can't try to change that. He's been independent and fighting for his life nonstop, do _you _think we can change his mind? Of course I worry all the time for his safety. He's managed this long. I've already lost him once, I can't imagine having to go through that again, but that's his life and all I can do for him is to be there if he needs me."

Jack nodded, "your mother is right, Jazz." He smiled kindly, "parents always worry if their child will be safe, but we can't keep you from all the dangers in the world so all we can do is teach you everything we know and trust that you'll stay safe." Jack grinned "besides, Danny has pulled through every challenge so far! I doubt there's anything he can't accomplish!"

Jazz chuckled, "that's true."

Klayton's body shuddered as though he were cold. A damp layer of sweat ran down his face.

"He's going into shock." Maddie grit her teeth, "Jazz, get me some damp towels, hurry!"

--

Flashback:

"You think you can actually pull this off?" Danny asked, and received no reply; it was obvious why… Danny exhaled, feeling his blood speed up as he prepared himself. He quickly glanced down the hallway to make sure there was a guard there, then with one last encouraging glance at Klayton, Danny dropped to the floor with as loud of a crash as he could possibly make with his small body and started screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Danny!? Danny!" Klayton rushed to his side, "What's wrong!?" He brought his head up and cried, "Help! There's something wrong!"

The guard heard the cry and quickly rushed to the cell, pulling out his keys to open the door. _Damn, _the guard snarled, _the doctors made it clear that these kids have to live for now. _He knew that they were necessary to finish this job. He opened the cell and crouched down to scoop up the boy but was surprised when the kid suddenly twisted to his back and launched his foot directly into the side of the guard's head.

"Damn it!" The man growled, putting his hand to his head, "stupid kid!" He lashed his hand out and smacked the boy across the face, hearing a quiet squeal from the impact. The young boy that had just gotten smacked got up onto his feet and literally jumped at the guard, knocking him with as much force as possible, causing the man to stumble.

Danny could feel his bones ache and bruise from attacking the guy, but knew that his job wasn't done yet. The door to the cell had been left open and Danny took that opportunity to make a sprint for the door.

"Hey, stop!" The man barked, running after the child immediately, not noticing the other child.

Klayton waited several moments till Danny and the guard were out of sight, then he held up the keys he had grabbed from the guard's pocket and then left the cell, running in the _opposite _direction that Danny had gone, knowing full well that the way Danny went was not an exit from this place. "Bye, brother." Klayton muttered under his breath and took off.

His bare feet quietly slapped against the ice cold floor, his heart raced uncontrollably through his chest. It was at this point that Klayton wished he had paid more attention to his surroundings or memorized where things were located. It was too late for that now. Keys jingling in his hand, he continued down that hallway until it came to a dead end.

Every small sound made him jump with horror, in his mind he could see all of the horrible possibilities as a result of this act. _If I don't get out of here, there's no way they'll give me another chance! And even if they by chance did…I wouldn't want that! I want out of here! _

In the other rooms, Klayton could hear the doctors running toward the lab where Danny currently was. _Please don't hurt him! _Klayton fiddled with the ring of keys, trying several times to open a single door with different keys until one of them worked. It was difficult to keep his hands from shaking. _Calm down. I just need to stay calm and quiet. _

Inhaling and exhaling deeply, Klayton managed to bring his heart rate down a bit so that he could focus more and not worry. The door unlocked with a small click and Klayton opened it, peeking through the door before he completely entered. It had only been about five minutes when Klayton ran into his first problem. He gasped when he heard footsteps close by. He stopped, and sure enough, a man turned the corner, in plain sight of Klayton.

Frozen in place, eyes wide, Klayton could taste blood in his mouth as he bit his lip. _Damn it! This can't be happening! Please no! _His plan of escape had to mean that he wasn't caught by anyone, and now that he was, everything would go downhill from there!

Taking a small step back, Klayton's muscles tensed as he was ready to dart in the other direction. Obviously, his movement didn't go unnoticed because the guard standing before him reached into his pocket and pulled out a very familiar device. Now, Klayton did start running, hoping to get out of reach of this man before he could push the button. No luck. Klayton screamed as the painful sensation worked through his body.

Having been running at the time, Klayton just about tripped over himself and lost sense of direction while he was shocked, causing him to collide with the wall. He desperately tried to hold himself up with the wall as a crutch, but it was no use. He fell to the ground, curling up agonizingly into the fetal position and could only feel himself losing consciousness.

_All of that…was for nothing? I thought for sure that I could escape. Perhaps it was just wishful thinking, maybe I didn't have much of a chance at all. _

"Then make it all worth something!" Klayton opened his eyes briefly, realizing that those words had come out of his own mouth. _Not you again! Go away! _"Get up!" _Go away! I don't need you! _"Stand up, you good for nothing! Stand up and fight!" His body seemed to act on it's own; ignoring the pain completely, Klayton jumped up from the ground, his eyes blazing with energy.

The guard looked at the boy with a questioning, as well as feared look in his eyes. "What the!?"

--

A doctor was on his way down a hallway toward the lab but when he turned a corner, he suddenly tripped and fell down. Growling with annoyance, the doctor rotated himself while he was lying on he ground to see what he had tripped over. "Oh my god!" He quickly scrambled away from the body sprawled across the floor, or at least, what was _left _of a body. "Who did this!?"

A dark chuckle brushed against the doctor's ear. The hair on his neck stood on end. "That would be _me_."

The doctor gave a strangled cough, looking down at his chest for a brief moment before his body went completely limp. The boy retracted his arm from the doctor's chest, leaving a bloody, gaping hole there.

There were no more distractions, so Klayton continued on his way out of the building. He flicked his arm a few times to throw some of the blood off. "Good job, partner. See how easy that was?" He chuckled. "No! No! No!" Klayton barked, bringing his hand up and examining the blood with wide, horrified eyes. "What have you done!? _Don't you mean we? _Get away from me!" Klayton let out a barking laugh. "How do you expect me to get away? I'm part of you, you idiot! No! You're not!" He viciously rubbed his hands together to get the blood off.

"Wasn't it your plan to escape? The longer you worry about _this_, the harder it will be to escape later! Now get moving!" Klayton gasped, biting his lip before taking off down the hallway.

_Someone's coming! _Klayton stopped, narrowing his eyes. There were several different places they could come from, he didn't know where they were exactly. "You idiot!" The voice inside of him barked, "Fly! Get away from them!" Klayton raised an eyebrow, "Fly? How!?"

Three men came into view, calling out to some others to come over there.

"Let me take over!" Klayton's voice growled, "I'll get us out!" Snapping back, Klayton replied "No way! I can get out myself!" "Psh! No you can't you idiot!" "Stop calling me an idiot!"

"Don't move!" One of the men who had arrived ordered.

Klayton cursed, glancing left and right in search for an escape route.

"There's no escape, 103!" The man with a large gun barked. The men surrounded him on all sides, each of them held up a deadly weapon, loaded and ready to fire. Each of the men suddenly pulled something out of their pocket, a round device that they each placed on the ground in front of them.

Klayton's eyes widened as a red beam was connected through each of the objects on the ground, creating a circle around Klayton. _Not good_. The red beams began to crisscross to the opposite side with the devices, and a few of the beams touched Klayton. At first it seemed like the beams did nothing, but it only took a moment later to realize that his muscles were tightening painfully to the point that he couldn't move them, it was as though they were hardening to a rock. "Damn."

--

"Let go of me!" Klayton roared, throwing himself back and forth in an attempt to get away from the men dragging him through the hallway.

"We're supposed to leave him in containment until further instructions." One of the men said to the others.

"I said let go of me!" Klayton was quickly hit across the face by one of the guys near him. He licked the blood in his mouth, hating the metallic taste of it.

They soon came to a short hallway of doors, this part of the building was always freezing cold! Klayton had been here only a few times before, only the ones that were being disobedient were sent here. He knew that punishment would be next. He exhaled with defeat, knowing that it was a stupid idea to begin with!

The first door was opened and the men tossed Klayton in; then the door was closed and locked. "Why the hell did I do this anyway! Damn it, I'm such an idiot!" He thought back to Danny, "No, I have to get out! I told Danny I would!" The voice cackled with laughter from Klayton's mouth, "Is that the only reason you want to escape?" "Of course not! I just…I'm tired of this place!" "I see. You humans are so strange. I'll never understand you."

Klayton stood up. _I'm tired of this stupid place! I hate it! I want to get out! Let me out!!! _

He threw himself up against the walls, kicking with all his might. His mind felt so hazy at the moment it was hard to stand up straight. "Let me out!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.

The door to the small room opened, slowly and almost cautiously.

Klayton turned, snarling like a rabid animal at the visitor. To his surprise, it was a female, she was dressed in a lab coat, which immediately made Klayton hate her. "What do you want!?"

"Sh, quiet down." She whispered, glancing behind her before completely stepping inside. "I need you to hold still for a bit, this won't hurt I promise." She pulled out a syringe filled with clear liquid.

Klayton's eyes grew wide, he ran as far from her as possible, "no! no! No more tests! Get away from me!"

"This isn't a test. I'm trying to help you." She still spoke quietly.

"Bull! Like I'll believe anything you monsters have to say! All you ever do is test on us!"

At his words, the woman cringed slightly. "I know. I don't expect you to believe me, or even trust me. But I need to give this to you. If you want to escape from here, you need this!"

"Liar! Liar!" Klayton growled, feeling the beast inside of him churn to fight.

"Please, quiet down!" The woman begged, "This won't hurt! I promise you! All I need you to do is be still." She heard some voices in the distance. "Damn." She walked up to Klayton, "Forgive me." She reached out and grabbed his arm. Klayton immediately began to struggle, kicking her and trying to push her away. When that didn't work, he put his head forward and bit down on her hand as hard as he could.

The woman grit her teeth in pain as blood gathered around the spot that he was biting. She quickly put the tip of the needle on his neck and gently put it into his skin where she injected the liquid.

Klayton hadn't felt the needle at all but realized a moment later that she had put it in him. The burning anger from his ghostly self was soon dying down to a dull murmur.

"I'm sorry. I promise this won't have any lasting effects, all it will do is hide your ectosignature so that they won't notice you leaving. But we have to go now."

Klayton's eyes half closed, he felt very tired. His teeth released the woman's hand.

"It will make you a bit exhausted though. I apologize." She wrapped an arm around him to keep him standing and gently picked him up and left the room.

The last thing Klayton saw was the room spinning before his eyes, he closed them and before he realized it, he drifted off to sleep.

--

Klayton sat up, eyes half open. He desperately wanted to fall back asleep, that had to be the most peaceful and comfortable sleep he had gotten in so long! He looked around him, noticing first that he was in a _bed_. His eyes narrowed and he pressed his hand down on the cushion beneath him. "Whoa." He said out loud, giving a small smile at the familiar fabric of a bed sheet.

The second thing he noticed was that he was in a room twice as big as his cell! It had a carpet, a window on the wall and even a light on the ceiling! Klayton stood up on top of the bed, jumping up and down a few times. He then lightly jumped off the bed and went over to the window. His eyes widened at the sight! "Whoa!" He said again, putting his hand up on the window. The glass was cold due to the frosty weather outside. There were white specs drifting down from the sky and creating a blanket of white on the ground.

He sniffed a few times, turning around and seeing a small table set up by his door with a bowl of hot soup on it. Nearly drooling with hunger, he ran toward the food, and began to drink it, completely ignoring the spoon that was left beside it.

Klayton, once he was finished with his soup, ran to the window again to watch the snow. He eventually opened up the window and put his hand out to catch a few of them.

"You'll let the cold air in if you leave the window open."

Klayton jumped with fear at the voice, spinning around to see who it was. "When did you get here!?"

A small girl was sitting in the corner of the room, she wore a large green coat and slippers while her hair was pulled into a braid. She turned her head toward Klayton and it was then that Klayton realized he recognized her. "I know you!" He exclaimed. "Subject 83! But…I thought you had been _labeled_! Didn't…"

"I don't like being called _83_. Please call me Jezebel."

Klayton noticed that the girl seemed to be looking right through him, her eyes, much like a cats eyes, were paling with a foggy colour. _Can she…not see me? _"Jezebel." He nodded, "I'm Klayton."

"Miss Takarra told me what happened, that was very brave of you to escape from that place."

Klayton's eyes widened and his mouth gaped open with horror, having been reminded of the past events that had completely slipped his mind. "Oh my god…" He fell to his knees, "…Danny…" He grit his teeth, "please be okay!"

"Klayton?" Jezebel asked. "Is Danny still…"

Klayton looked up at Jezebel, "you know Danny?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, he was fine when I left…" He looked around, "that woman! Where is she? I have to ask her something!"

"She had to leave. She brought you here but had to go back otherwise it would be suspicious if you vanished at the same time she did."

"W-why did she save me?"

Jezebel shrugged, "I asked her the same thing. She told me that she didn't want anyone else to get hurt."

"Will she save Danny too!"

"That I don't know."

"Oh…" He sighed. It felt so strange…for once, he didn't know what to do. "I'm…" a smile was brought to his lips, "I'm…free?" A tear came to his eyes, and Klayton now realized that he didn't have to try and hold his tears, there was no person there to tell him that 'crying showed weakness', there was no person telling him what to do! No more experiments! No more Rafael! "I can't believe it…I never thought that I…"

Jezebel smiled, "yeah, you're free."

-End Flashback-

**A/N: Any guesses for what that whole 'bill' was all about at the very beginning? Anyway! Hope you enjoyed it!**


	30. Goson

Error's Rival

Chapter 30: Goson

Danny could feel his eyes rolling around behind his sockets, trying desperately to open them but without success for several minutes. His stomach growled a bit with hunger but at the same time it was as though his stomach wanted to reject any food he swallowed. _Damn, that fight with Klay' really did a number on me. I can hardly move. I wonder how he's doing. _Danny nearly smirked, _I shouldn't worry, Klay' won't die so easily. He's tougher than that. _

He managed to crack his eyes open. _How long have I been out? I don't think it was very long, but it's hard to tell when I'm unconscious. _

Obviously, someone saw his attempt to wake up. Jazz's voice reached his ears, "don't push yourself, Danny. Just rest for a while. You're going to be fine."

"Mm…" Danny inhaled slowly. "…how's Klay'?"

"Just rest, okay Danny?" Jazz replied.

_Why won't you answer me? _"Is he…okay?" He tried to sound more stern with his question, wanting her to answer him. "Jazz? What's…" _Is Klayton alright!? What's going on? _

"You're going to be alright, we were able to patch you up and you should be fully recovered soon."

_Okay! Still! I don't care about my condition! Tell me if my friend is going to be okay! _"H-how…" His words slurred. It was very quickly that Danny couldn't keep his eyes open any longer and he drifted into unconsciousness.

Jazz glanced away from Danny, looking over at her parents who were still in the clean area with Klayton. At this point, even Jazz didn't know if Klayton would make it or not.

--

Danny grit his teeth, knowing full well that he was in a dream, but that still didn't seem to make it any less real. He could see Klayton so far away and Danny tried and tried to run toward him but it seemed like Klayton wasn't getting any closer. The image quickly transitioned over to a pitch black room with familiar large doors in front of him, the doors swung open and Danny could see Sam standing on the other side. "No! This wasn't in the deal! Why is Sam there!? Where'd Klayton go!? Tucker! Where are you!?" The doors began to close, Sam still on the other side, giving him a light smile. "Wait! Sam!" He reached out to her. A sudden falling sensation came over him, air rushed past his ears as he fell from the sky, unable to activate his powers and fly.

Jerking to a sudden wake, Danny opened his eyes. His body trembled. He looked around, as though to see if he was still dreaming. He was in the lab, that much he was sure of. But nobody else was down here.

Sitting up a bit, Danny looked over to the other side of the room where a large white tarp thing had been set up in order to create a clean room. The clean area was not in use, Danny noticed that nobody was in there. There was also a bed inside of there but nobody was on it. _Klayton's not here? _A sick feeling rushed over him, dreading the worst news.

Danny threw the blanket off of his body and was about to get up when he noticed the IV in his arm, he slowly pulled it out, looking away as he did so. Then he stood up beside his bed. It was very quickly that Danny felt dizzy from standing and he doubled over, vomiting onto the floor. "Damn…" He coughed, holding his stomach.

"Danny! What are you doing up!?" Jazz ran down to the lab. "Sit down." She quickly grabbed a rag and handed it to him, with which he wiped his face off.

"How long have I been out?"

"Not long. Only a few days."

"A _few days_!?" Danny looked around again. "Klayton! Where is he!?"

Jazz looked away.

"Damn it, Jazz!" He grabbed her shoulders violently, "tell me what happened!"

"Calm down! He'll be alright!"

"Then why are you-"

"He's not here anymore. I knew you would be upset so I didn't want to tell you! We…called a place down in southern California, they have a jail there specifically for ghosts."

Danny's eyes widened. "Are you telling me…you gave Klayton to them!? Why the hell did you do that!? He didn't do anything wrong!! All they'll do is treat him like a criminal!"

"What else were we supposed to do, Danny!? We couldn't just let him go free! And he _is _a criminal! You saw what he did!"

"All I saw was what _Venom_ did! Klayton didn't do anything! I can't let them have him!" Danny released Jazz and started to walk toward the stairs.

"What will you do if you let him go!? Do you really think that Venom will just leave you alone!? As long as Venom is on the loose, we'll have to be looking behind our backs constantly!"

Danny spun around, narrowing his eyes dangerously. "You don't get it, Jazz! They'll put him in a cell for the rest of his life! How can I be so cruel and let that happen! We spent so long trapped in cages, you don't know what that's like! Not being able to see how life is outside, only being able to look at the same four walls! It's the worst feeling ever! Klayton was finally free! He was able to see other people and places! I won't let him suffer like that again!"

Jazz made a pained face, "you're right, I don't know what that's like. But I don't want you to get hurt again!" She pointed at Danny's body, "_this_ was all because of Venom! You think that I want this to happen again!? I will always think of you as my brother, and therefore I can't let the same thing happen to you!"

"Jazz!" Danny cried, "I think of you as my family too! But…Klayton has been and will always be a brother to me! Would you let me, your brother, be locked up in a damn cell!? I also want to protect my family, just as you do! And I plan to!" Danny grunted with pain as he transformed into Phantom.

"Danny! Don't! You're still healing!"

"I'll be fine. Don't worry." He jumped into the air, "I'll be back in a bit."

--

Danny had heard of this prison for ghosts before, being a half ghost himself as well as having adoptive parents that were scientists on ghosts, he had researched such places before. Danny probably could've gotten there much sooner if he was at full health, but right now he was extremely exhausted and still injured.

He returned to his human form once he reached Koshina, a city in the South of California (random city name I came up with), Danny asked some people if they knew where Goson prison was, Goson being the common name for the prison he was looking for. At one point, he found some reliable information to his destination.

Although he was in a hurry, Danny had to take it easy, he knew that Jazz was right, he wasn't in any condition to be using his power right now. Danny smacked himself, wishing that he could turn back time for a bit and reword what he had said to her. _I shouldn't have gotten mad at her. Man, I'm such an idiot! She was just trying to look after me. _Danny told himself that he would apologize to her once he got back.

--

Danny didn't think too far ahead, the only thing he really had in his mind was to get to the prison that Klayton was being kept at, but now that Danny was here… he was trembling horribly, unable to focus. He pretty much had to close his eyes while being escorted through the building. From the outside, it wasn't too bad looking.

The men in the prison had kindly agreed to let Danny see Klayton. There were cameras all over the place, which gave Danny an uneasy feeling, but it was a prison after all. Halfway down a hallway, Danny stopped walking, inhaling and exhaling deeply. He looked behind him quickly as the door closed. There were locked doors all over the place in case someone tried to escape.

"Sir?"

Danny jumped with a gasp, looking forward at the man walking with him. The man wasn't much taller than Danny, he wore a simple bluish black outfit, no weapons or devices of any kind. He had kind eyes that made Danny feel comfortable. "S-sorry…I…have a bit of a fear of prisons…" It was true in a way.

The man smiled at Danny, "don't worry, you'll be safe here. It may look a bit creepy with all the security, but that's mostly just in case one of the ghosts goes berserk and we need to make sure they don't escape and hurt someone."

Danny nodded, still not comfortable with the whole environment.

"Ah, here we are." The man stepped aside to let Danny see the door. "There is a camera in each room just for safety, but if you are feeling in danger just call out and we'll step in." The door automatically opened and Danny was allowed to go.

Clenching his teeth, Danny stepped inside and the door closed behind him. He cringed at the sound of the door locking behind him. His clenched his hands, trying to stay strong.

"Hahaha! Well, well, I never thought the day would come that I would be trapped in a room with you again."

In the corner of the room, Klayton sat on a bed with white sheets. Beside the bed was a small table with a lamp on it, on the other side of the room there was a table to eat on. A window was located next to the bed so that the sunlight could shine in.

"It's not even quite like a prison really, it's more like a hotel room." Klayton chuckled. "Danny…you okay?"

Danny hadn't moved at all since he stepped into the room.

"Hey, it's not like that place at all. Just look around, this is like heaven compared to there."

Still, Danny didn't move, he didn't even look up at Klayton.

"You want to sit down?" Klayton offered. "Come on, Danny! Relax!" He stood up from his bed and walked over to Danny, he put a hand on his shoulder, "come on, let's sit, okay?" He led Danny over to the bed where they both sat down. "So, what brings you here?"

"How do you do it?" Danny quietly whispered, closing his eyes tightly. "Every time I open my eyes…I can't see what's in front of me…I only see the past…"

"You think you're the only one with that problem? Trust me, Danny, I know how you feel, but once I actually looked around and spent a bit of time here, I realized that this is…just not the same as that place. They give me three meals a day and there's a library on the top floor, also there's a section in the building that has a glass ceiling where I can watch the stars at night, we can go to those places any time we want! We're allowed to have visitors and…Danny? Why are you so sad?"

"I'm so sorry, Klay'. I'm sorry that you ended up in a place like this."

"Were you not just listening to me? I'm totally fine here! It's actually quite fun! I've already made some friends!" He chuckled, "I'm quite a popular guy around here, not many ghosts have heard of a so called 'half ghost', so they're all interested!"

"But…you're still…you're not free…" Danny lowered his head, but glanced up at the strange metal collar around Klayton's neck, it was at least an inch thick and had five little green lights along the front. One of the green lights was slightly yellow, however.

"Oh, so you noticed this?" Klayton touched the collar. "It's not really what you would except. I'll tell ya, I really put up a fight when I first got here, and then they came at me with this thing!" He laughed, "I feel sorry for the guys that tried that, I did a bit of damage, but they're all okay, thank god!" He pointed to the green lights, "all this does is monitor my ectoenergy levels, if my powers are being used or start going out of control, these little green things will turn yellow and then sometimes it will turn red."

Danny put his face in his hands, still unable to accept any of this! It was soon that he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. He looked up and saw Klayton embracing him warmly.

"I don't want to hurt anyone anymore. And as long as I'm here, they can make sure that I don't. It may sound strange, but I want to be here. This is never going to leave me, as long as I'm alive, Venom will be alive as well. You know the damage we can do! To Tucker, Sam and you! I don't ever want that again!"

"Klay', I finally got you back after so long! And now, you're leaving me again? I don't want this!"

"Do you want me to hurt people! I can't control my powers!"

"I promised Jezebel that I would save you! I'll find a way to get rid of Venom so that you can be set free!"

Klayton shook his head, "please, don't. You've already saved me, Danny! You were able to defeat Venom, even he admitted defeat to you! And because of that, we were able to be sent here. I can't thank you enough, Danny."

"It doesn't seem right. That's not what Jezebel wanted!"

Klayton closed his eyes, as though in pain. "Jezebel knew that you would be able to defeat Venom, which is why she gave her life as an exchange for your powers. I think this is exactly what she wanted." He sighed.

"Was her life…really only worth my powers? That just seems…like such a small thing as an exchange for a life."

"Probably, her life was more than enough, but she offered everything for us. She was that kind of person. I will miss her, and I will never be angry at her decision…Danny, about the Gatekeeper…how soon will…"

"Not long." Danny replied, his body giving a small spasm as all of his muscles clenched unbearably tight. "That damn bastard Gatekeeper! I wish more than anything that I could go back and change our deal!"

Klayton bit his lip, knowing very well what the deal was. When Danny had returned from the dead, after making the deal, Klayton/Venom had looked into Danny's mind and saw what had been exchanged. "It was none of my business, I'm sorry that I saw into your mind."

"It doesn't matter." Danny let tears roll down from his eyes, "why am I so helpless! I've tried for so long to help people! But I can't save the ones closest to me! That Gatekeeper, he just enjoys messing with people! It doesn't matter to him who lives and who dies!"

"I'm guessing you haven't told the others yet."

Danny shook his head, "of course I haven't. Things have been so hectic!"

"Do you still plan on going after Rafael?"

Danny nodded, "I have to. I have to settle things with him once and for all!"

Klayton smirked, "well, I hope you do, make sure you kick his ass for me! And also, I have something that you might find useful." He raised a hand and put it on Danny's head, "just relax. While we were fighting, I noticed that someone was watching our fight. Turns out it was Pyrros, and Venom for some reason took a peek into his head. The moment that Pyrros started to leave, I was able to get a glance at where he was headed."

Danny's eyes closed as images filled his mind of a path through the forest that led straight to Rafael's hideout.

It was only a moment later that two men ran into the room.

Danny jumped with surprise, but Klayton didn't seem shocked. "Yeah yeah," Klayton muttered, "I have it under control."

Two of the green lights on Klayton's metal collar had turned yellow from his use of ectoenergy.

"Sorry, it won't happen again."

The men looked at Danny, who simply nodded to tell them that he was fine. The two men left as fast as they had arrived.

Klayton laughed, "I thought that might happen. But did you get all of that?"

Danny nodded. "Your powers are amazing, Klay'."

"Amazing, but painful to others, it causes damage and is such a burden. Your powers are also incredible, Danny, and unlike mine, you can control yours without an annoying person talking to you twenty-four seven. You can defeat Rafael!"

"I thought it would be easier with you there…and even with both of us it would've been difficult."

"You have Tucker and Sam now, they will stay with you and help you."

Danny smiled, "I'll miss you, Klay'. I'll come to visit as often as I can!"

Klayton also smiled back, "Good luck."

The two of them hugged tightly. Danny had the strangest feeling that they wouldn't see each other for a long time.

"And…I guess this is goodbye."

"Don't say it like that!" Danny quickly barked, "you make it sound like…we won't see each other ever again!"

"You never know what could happen, Danny. Either way, I look forward to when we'll see each other again. And you better have freaking defeated Rafael next time you see me!"

Danny chuckled, "sure. I promise."

After a minute, they let go of each other and Danny stood up, not even realizing that he felt much more comfortable in this room than before! He went over to the door and it was automatically opened after a few seconds. Their eyes met, bright blue and purple. Danny then walked out of the room, the door closing behind him.

Klayton immediately brought his head to his hands, trying so hard to keep it together. "_Why didn't you just tell him? _Because he already has enough on his mind, now leave me alone. _You're being quite mean today, now aren't you? Do you think we'll see him again? _As things are now, probably not. I can only hope that we will see each other again. _Do you think he has a chance against Rafael?_" At this, Klayton paused, "of course he has a chance! He'll win! _You don't seem completely confident."_

"Well…" Klayton continued, "he did defeat us. But you were willing to give in at the end, Rafael has such a strong will to live, if he didn't, he wouldn't have started searching and experimenting for a permanent way of life! _That's true. As of now, he's completely obsessed with immortality! For him to go to such lengths just for immortality… _Those are such kind words from you, Venom. Feeling nice today, are we? _Of course not. I'm just stating the obvious truth._"

Klayton was quiet for a while before speaking again. "Venom, you're better connected with the ghost world than I am…do you think you can get in contact with the bastard known as the Gatekeeper for me?" Venom was shocked at this request. "_You have got to be kidding me! What do you plan on doing!? _You'll find out. I don't know if it will work, but I have to try and be helpful to Danny. All I've ever been is a burden, it's about time I paid him back for that. _You're an idiot! You do know that!_" Klayton laughed, "don't worry, I'm well aware."

**A/N: Goson (pronounced Gaw-son) and Koshina were totally random names and have no reference to any city or place in real life! ^_^ **

**Oh! And Happy Holidays everyone, my gift to you is this double update! **

**Please review! **

**-Desi-**


	31. Destination

Error's Rival

Chapter 31: Destination

Danny entered his house, he was exhausted and could hardly keep his eyes open but the first thing he did was go toward Jazz's room. He knocked softly on her door. He heard a "come in" from inside and opened the door. Danny stepped inside, looking down at the ground. He expected her to be glaring at him with disappointment or anger. "S-sorry about…about what I said. I didn't mean to yell at you." He started to leave the room without another word.

"Wait!" Jazz called out to him.

Danny turned to face her, this time he did look up at her.

"Thanks." Jazz smiled, "I'm glad you're home."

He returned the smile before leaving and closing her door. Danny had never been very good at apologizing; he never knew the right words to say. He was glad that Jazz wasn't furious with him, but then again, she was never one to hold a grudge for long.

Danny went to his room and fell onto his bed. He clenched his fists; soon they would have to leave to search for Rafael. They had of course been delayed several days, but now…Danny had a lead. Klayton had shown him where to find Rafael. Once they had all recovered…it would be time to set out once more.

--

Sam breathed heavily. Her fingers ached and her muscles were sore. She kicked the sand bag hanging in the air several more times. "Damn it, Rafael, this time I won't let Danny suffer! I'll do everything I can to help him defeat you!" She walked over and picked up the small pistol, aiming at the targets down the long lane.

Sam had never found their target practice room or their gym to be useful until now. While Danny was healing, she had spent nearly all her free time in here, trying her best to strengthen herself for their upcoming battle.

"S-Sam…" Tucker fell onto the ground, coated in sweat. "Can we…take a break?"

She didn't answer; her entire focus was on hitting the center of the target.

"Ugh…" He stood back up, returning to the punching bag. "I don't know where you get all that energy!"

"I don't want to be a burden to Danny! I don't want him to always protect me! I may not have ghost powers like him, but neither does Rafael! If we can be of help to Danny somehow, then we will win!"

"So, this Rafael…he's strong?"

Sam paused for a moment before answering, "he's powerful, yes, but he's a bastard who loves to hurt people both physically and mentally! Don't ever listen to what he says!"

"Sam, we've been at this for hours! You know part of exercising is resting! Let's take a break!"

Still, Sam ignored him.

"Ah, come on!"

"You know, I think Tucker is right, you need to take a break, Sam."

Sam spun around wildly, gun still in hand. Her face lit up, "Danny!" She dropped the gun from her hand and ran toward him, nearly knocking him down as she hugged him.

"You're covered in sweat! Did you guys just run a marathon!"

"Yes!" Tucker spoke up, clearly out of breath.

"Are you all better now?" Sam still didn't release Danny from their hug.

"For the most part, yes. How are you guys holding up?"

"Tucker and I are fine. We're just practicing a bit."

"Do you have some time? I wanted to talk to both of you."

"Yeah, we have some time." Sam agreed.

"Oh!" Tucker barked, "you listen to him when he says take a break but I've been telling you to take a break for hours!"

"Well, you didn't have anything important to say."

"Good god! Do you guys just argue all the time!?" Danny chuckled.

--

Sam nodded as Danny told them of the events at Goson, "So, Klayton's all right though?"

"Yeah, he'll be fine. I can take you to see him if you want."

Sam nodded once more, "yeah, I think we should."

"We could…stop by there on our way to…you know…if you're still planning on going, that is."

"What the hell are you saying, Danny!?" Tucker barked, "you think we are going to just leave you to go on your own!?"

"It's dangerous, Tuck'!"

"So you don't want us to go!?" Sam was the one to speak up this time.

"It's not that at all! I'm just afraid that…you'll be hurt…or worse…I'm just saying that if you're afraid of going, then I won't mind if you stay here."

"Are you trying to say that _you're_ not afraid?" Sam asked. "Of course we're afraid, it would be messed up if we weren't! This guy is a psycho, we're aware of that. And that's why we don't want to let you fight him alone. If we can be of any help whatsoever, then let us come with you."

Danny chuckled, "any normal person would be against going." He grabbed Sam's hands.

"I wasn't aware we were normal." Sam took a step toward Danny, closing the gap between them. Sam couldn't remember the last time they were able to stand together like this, for a while now they had been fighting and trying to stay alive… she missed spending time with Danny. She didn't tell him enough how much he meant to her. She loved him. She never wanted to leave his side.

"Ah hem!" Tucker loudly coughed, "Dude, I'm still here!"

Danny smirked, "you can leave if you want."

"I would, but Sam's parents are upstairs. We've been down here practicing, trying to stay away from them." Tucker shuddered, "her mom scares me for some reason."

"Yeah, I was smart and got in here intangibly, so she doesn't even know I'm here!" Danny said triumphantly.

"Well, whatever, I do need to leave, though." Tucker looked at his watch, "my parents have been giving me a hard time about not being home enough." He shrugged, "they're weird like that. Well, I'll see you." Tucker left the gym.

Danny laughed, "hang on, okay?" He lifted Sam up into his arms.

"Oh my god! Are you-" She let out a small cry as Danny jumped into the air, she wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. It always felt so weird when Danny turned intangible, not to mention it was just freaky to actually go through a solid object! Sam had to admit, flying was fun, but it was also terrifying!

Danny looked at her face, she was beaming like a child on a roller coaster, it made him laugh seeing her like that. He knew that Sam didn't like heights, she told him that before, so he did well to not go too high above the ground.

Sam had to squint her eyes in order to see, the wind was making her eyes water. She relaxed her muscles a tad bit after a few minutes so now she wasn't squeezing the life out of Danny. Sam was about to ask where they were going, but it was soon that Danny came to a halt at a certain building. It was the tallest building in Amity Park, Sam and him had gone there before. It was a special place for both of them, Danny had brought her here a while back, that was the time that he had told her he loved her.

Danny placed Sam next to him gently, the two of them immediately sat down, with their legs hanging over the edge. "Do you remember when you first met me? I was afraid of you, I didn't know whether I could trust you or not. I hardly trusted anyone. But seeing your boldness and strength gave me hope for some reason. I don't know when it was that I realized I loved you. So many times I thought that you were dangerous because I had never felt so strange around someone before.

"I even opened up to you and told you about my past. Very few people know of that. I just…wish I had met you earlier in my life, we could've spent more time together." Danny wiped away a tear that threatened to fall from his eye. "I don't want to rush anything, Sam. But just know that I do love you. I may not know entirely what that word means, but it feels right to say it."

"Danny, you were my first friend and the first person I ever fell in love with. Once this fight with Rafael is over, we can spend as much time together as we want, right?"

He didn't reply for a while. "Sam, things aren't in our favor right now. Rafael has always had the upper hand."

"So what!? We can still beat him! I know we can! We'll avenge our friends! And we'll save the spirits trapped in the Organization's building! With Rafael gone, we can go back to our normal lives!"

Danny chuckled, "well with that attitude I can't really say no, now can I?" He wrapped his arm around Sam's waist, bringing her close and kissed her lightly.

--

Danny shot up in his bed; a cold sweat drenched his body. He gasped several times, his ear twitched lightly, searching for any disturbance around him. "Who's there!?" He demanded. He tossed the blanket off of him and stood up.

A familiar sensation came over his body. "Damn it, not you again." He recognized this feeling as one of the Messenger spirits, "what are you doing here?" He couldn't see the Messenger, but it was very obviously there.

"I bring a message from the Gatekeeper."

At this, Danny narrowed his eyes dangerously. "What the hell does that bastard want!? Hasn't he done enough!?"

The Messenger continued. "If you fail to hold up your end of the bargain, you know the consequences. If you die on your mission, then so will she."

Danny cussed loudly. "Get away from me! Tell that Gatekeeper bastard that I won't give up on this! I don't care what he chose as a punishment! I won't let it happen! I…" tears threatened to fall from his eyes, "I don't want Sam to suffer anything like that…neither of us deserves this! Tell him that! Ask him, ask him to change the deal! I'll exchange it for something else! Please!" He barked like a madman, "are you listening to me, Messenger!? Hey!!" He fell onto his knees, unable to hold back the sobs that escaped him, "please change it…I don't want this…"

_(check) "I'll do whatever you want! Please!" Danny begged the Gatekeeper. "I'll do anything!"_

"_Not a wise choice of words, young one." The voice of the Gatekeeper was so powerful, as though infinite energy was crashing down upon Danny as he spoke. "Very well, I will be the one to choose your fate, and in exchange, you may return to the human world." _

_Danny's face lit up. "R-really!?" _

_A chuckled echoed all around Danny. "Now, as your punishment."_

"_Punishment!? I thought this was an exchange!" _

"_It is, in a sense, both. One life can change the entire timeline of the world. Placing a body, a life, a soul, into a place where it is not meant to be results in a punishment. So yes, this is an exchange, with which I __decide what will happen."_

_Danny cringed, not liking the sound of this. _

If he had realized what the Gatekeeper had planned, he never would have uttered those words. All of this was his fault, for being greedy and wanting to see Sam again.

"_W-WHAT!?" Danny cried, "how the hell is __that__an exchange! That's just…NO! You can't…you just…" He didn't know what to say. "That's ridiculous! Don't get Sam involved with something that isn't her problem!" _

"_Life must be balanced as well as death. As I said, life is not easily given, therefore the price of it is a high one."_

"_No! I refuse!"_

"_The deal has already been made, the moment you called to me saying you would do anything was when the deal was created. You cannot change it now." _

"_NO! Damn you, you bastard! Stop the deal! I don't want this! Take it back!!!" _

"I don't want any of this! This is all _his_ fault!" Danny threw his fist at the ground. He didn't quite know whom he was referring to when he said 'his'. The gatekeeper? Rafael? Or was it both? Were they the only ones to blame for what was happening? No, Danny thought to himself. He himself was also to blame for this outcome. "I'm so sorry, Sam. Everyone."

By this time, the Messenger was long gone and Danny was left alone in his room.

--

"Don't worry." Danny hugged the Fentons each, "I promise I'll come back. This is something I have to do."

Jazz lightly punched Danny in the shoulder; "I'll hold you to that promise."

"And I'll make sure to bring the Specter Speeder back as good as new."

"Jack and I made some upgrades, it can speed up to four hundred miles per, but I recommend not going over three hundred. Everything you need is already packed in there."

"Thanks," Danny smiled, "you guys are the best."

He sat in the drivers seat of the Specter Speeder. It immediately asked him for a destination. Danny wasn't sure where to say, he had the information in his mind, so he ignored that and turned the engine on. It was already 7:30.

Danny smiled brightly when Sam stepped out of her house and pretty much ran over to the odd vehicle. They exchanged a quick 'good morning' kiss while Sam settled in the seat next to Danny. "Oh yeah," Danny reached behind him into the large pile of equipment, "Maddie asked me to give this to you. She wants to make sure it fits before we leave."

In his hand, Danny held a thin vest for Sam to wear on her chest. It was wrapped in a thick layer of plastic, and Danny held it by the corner, being sure to avoid touching it. "You can just wear it under your shirt. You can turn it on whenever you want, but when you do, ghosts won't be able to touch you. It's sort of like a Specter Deflector, except it can also help to block attacks."

"Cool," Sam smiled, taking the vest from him, "thanks." Sam pulled off her shirt before Danny could even say anything. He quickly turned away, turning bright red. Sam pulled the vest over her bra; it fit her perfectly! She was amazed at how light it was too! Sam quickly put her shirt on over the vest and turned to Danny, who was still turned away from her quietly. "This is amazing! I can't even tell it's there!"

Danny peeked at Sam to make sure she was decent before facing forward again. "That's good. There's one for Tucker too…where the hell is he anyway?"

"Hey guys!" Tucker opened the door on the passenger side, "sorry I'm late!" He climbed in, sitting next to Sam. "Dude, you feeling okay? You look really red."

"I'm fine!" Danny barked. He placed his hands on the steering wheel and revved the engine a bit. The three of them waved goodbye to the Fentons one last time before Danny drove the Specter Speeder into the air and took off.

--

Only about fifty feet away, Pyrros stood at the sidewalk and watched the group take off. He narrowed his eyes and jumped up into the air to follow.

--

"Do you know where you're even going?" Tucker looked down below them at all the trees, "how can you tell which way to go? Everything looks the same!"

"I can tell. Klay' told me how to get there. Obviously he's going to have his place somewhere deserted! It would be stupid to have his place out in the open!" Danny kept his eyes forward. Somehow, it was like his own mind was navigating him in the correct direction.

All three of them had decided to not visit Klayton yet; they had planned on going to see him before they went to Rafael's. However…none of them wanted to say 'goodbye' as though they were going to die. They all decided to visit _after _they were done, and they had to make sure they all got out of there safely.

Sam kept glancing at Danny, noticing the rings under his eyes. Of course, none of them had gotten a nice sleep last night but he seemed troubled by something. "Danny, you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. We should be there in a few hours. Also," he pulled out two small guns from below the seat and tossed them at his friends. "Keep alert, we have someone following us. They've been at it for a while, but they haven't attacked so I don't think we need to worry yet."

"Yet?" Sam picked up the gun and observed it for a bit.

"Well, who else other than Rafael's people would follow us? They might be planning to attack us later. I'll let you know if they make any funny moves." Danny made a sudden sharp turn to the left, avoiding a large ectoplasmic ball that was thrown at them. "Damn!"

"Like that?" Tucker looked out the window, looking all around for the attacker.

"Damn, that was a quick attack. The scanners didn't even pick it up on time!" The Specter Speeder slowly began descending downward, "I'm going to land. It's hard to fight when we're in this thing…plus," he chuckled, "I promised the Fentons I would bring it back unscathed." The Specter Speeder lightly landed on the damp forest floor. The group of three jumped out of the vehicle. "Tucker, you have your vest on?"

"Yeah."

"Me too." Sam said. She turned it _on_, and Danny had to step away for fear that he would touch it.

"You guys see anything?" Danny charged energy in his hand. "I don't sense him…wait…" He narrowed his eyes. A very quick chill ran up his spine, but it was enough to worry Danny; out of protective instinct, he lunged at his friends and they all fell to the ground. It was a false alarm. Danny, after falling to the ground with his friends, let out a horrible shriek and jumped away from them. His muscles gave a few spasms even after he had stepped away.

"Danny!" She turned the vest off immediately, "I'm so sorry!" She ran toward Danny.

"Guys!" Tucker fired his gun. Both Sam and Danny turned to look at where Tucker had fired.

Pyrros hovered just above the trees several yards away from them.

"Sam, turn your vest on!" Danny flamed up with green energy, "_you_ again!?"

Pyrros lowered from his high place till his feet touched the ground, he began walking toward them.

"Stay back!" Danny threw a ball of ectoenergy in his direction.

Easily blocking the attack, Pyrros continued walking toward them.

A/N: Dun dun DUN! I am SO sorry for the long wait! I'd love to come up with an excuse other than school, but that's the only reason I have for not updating quickly. Please forgive me!


	32. Double Doors

Error's Rival

Chapter 32: Double Doors

**Previously: Danny learned that his long lost friend, Klayton and his fearsome enemy, Venom, were the same person. After a long battle, Klayton was captured and put away in Goson, a jail specifically for Ghosts. Now, Danny, Sam and Tucker are on their way for their final battle with Rafael, and they run into Pyrros on the way there. Pyrros appeared in previous chapters, he is a creature made entirely of ectoplasm, created by Rafael. **

"Stay back!"

Pyrros continued to walk forward.

Both Tucker and Sam held up their weapons, ready to fire whenever needed.

Pyrros stopped when he was about twenty feet away from them. "You don't have to attack me, I don't plan on fighting." The flames that enveloped his body raged furiously around him, threatening to set fire to any foliage near him. His teeth and claws bore outward threateningly.

"Like hell you don't!" Danny stood between his friends and his enemy, wanting to do whatever necessary to keep them away from the danger.

"Father sent me here to greet you guys and walk you the rest of the way to his place." Pyrros shrugged innocently, "but of course if you want to fight, I'd be happy to take you up on your offer. Although, I wouldn't recommend it." The flames that burned from Pyrros' body flared up to even greater heights, licking at the branches of the trees with it's tips. "I've upgraded once more, thanks to Father. He always knows how to help me." He grinned menacingly, "I don't have to worry about that dumb broad's spirit getting in the way now!"

Danny's eyes widened a brief moment before narrowing into a blood-boiling glare. "You mean Allison?"

"Yeah. Her spirit always seemed to mess everything up! Always wanting to help others and support them rather than obey orders given to her. Father didn't realize that would all happen by using her spirit to help create me, but since it did happen, father was kind enough to find a solution for the problem! A few of the previous attempts didn't work, but this one seems to be working perfectly fine! It's almost like she never existed in the first place!" Pyrros cackled with laughter.

Danny grit his teeth with absolute fury. "One of the only reasons I didn't want any of us to kill you in the past was because a piece of Allison was still inside of you! It's impossible to destroy the spirit of someone, even after death. I refuse to believe that Rafael managed to find a way to change that! No matter what you say or think, Allison is still there!"

Pyrros raised his hands in a mock surrender, "hey, hey. I already told you I'm not here to fight." He chuckled, "you should try to save your energy for later. Not that it matters, you'll all die anyway."

"Thanks for the encouraging words." Danny grumbled.

"Hm." Pyrros stroked his chin with his forefinger and thumb, "Father also said that I was allowed to use whatever methods needed to get you there faster, as long as you're alive of course." In an instant, Pyrros vanished from sight and reappeared only a mere inch behind Sam. He took a hold of her arm with a rock solid grip. "How 'bout I take this little lady with me?"

Sam let out a yelp and pulled on her arm in an attempt to break free. She started to reach for her gun to defend herself but it wasn't necessary. Only a brief moment later, Tucker had raised his own pistol with whining ectoenergy up to Pyrros' head, and Danny had somehow pulled Sam free of Pyrros' grip and stood in front of Sam, crouched down just a bit with his glowing green hand held up to his enemy.

Sam pursed her lips with anger, not wanting to be the damsel in distress that Danny needed to look out for. She came here with him in hopes of helping him, not make more trouble.

"Don't put your filthy hands on her!" Danny snarled.

"Seriously, dude!" Tucker continued to hold his pistol up, "we were on our way toward that guy's place. You didn't need to come here to hurry us up!"

Pyrros let out a small laugh, "Father isn't always patient. I just thought we could have a nice chat before you meet him." He smirked upon seeing their flaring eyes. "Alright, alright. I guess I'll meet you there!" With a flashing grin, Pyrros disappeared from sight.

Sam growled furiously and marched back to the Specter Speeder, "come on, guys!" She called back to them. Her hands tightened to fists, _I'll show them, this time, I won't have to wait on Danny or Tucker to save me! I'll take care of myself!_

==o==0==o==

Rafael leaned back in his computer chair, the slight recline was just enough to make him comfortable. He gave a short breath of laughter, "ah, Jillian, our son has grown up to be quite the disappointment, hasn't he?" He glanced down at the photo of his wife in his hands, "but we can't all expect our children to turn out how we wanted." The aging man spun his chair around at the sound of Pyrros arriving.

The flaming ectoplasmic human gave a small nod of respect but was quick to change his attitude. He leaned back against the wall in Rafael's office, crossing his arms over his chest to make himself comfortable, "I went and told them all to hurry the hell up. They're on their way."

Rafael placed the photo of his wife down on his desk that was littered with paper and slowly stood up out of his chair. He raised his eyebrows, "acting a bit disrespectful today, are we?"

Pyrros snorted and shrugged, "ah, well, you know how it is, Father! We should all be a bit more relaxed around here, ya know?"

"As your _Creator_, I expect to see a bit more formality around here, Subject 214!"

Pyrros raised his right hand a mere five inches to the right of his face and his hand burst into a fury of fire, the flames dancing and twisting all around his hand. "With these new powers, I think I have the right to have a say in things, don't you agree? From what I can see, right now you're powerless against me." His fangs prodded out between his lips in a grin.

"Ignorant creature." Rafael's eye twitched with anger, but his voice remained unshaken, "I gave you those powers and I can easily take them away."

Pyrros' breath caught midway in his throat. His voice hitched as he tried to breathe. A painful high-pitched wail rang relentlessly through his skull. Pyrros brought his hands up to either side of his head and clasped his ears, trying to block out the noise that wracked his brain with torment. The odd sensation that struck him with pain traveled outward from his head, slowly gripping his entire body. Pyrros' back arched and he dropped to his knees, bending forward so that his forehead nearly touched the ground. His hands continued to press against his head and he heaved in and out with groans of agony. "Wh-what the hell is this!" He cried, gritting his teeth as the sound became more intense. Green blood began to trickle down from his pointed ears. Pyrros thought for sure that his brain would explode inside of his skull.

Rafael grabbed a fistful of Pyrros' hair and pulled him upward so that their eyes met. Pyrros' eyes were milky and moist and a small drip of saliva trickled down from the corner of his mouth. Rafael glared at him furiously. "Powerless? To you? Don't make me laugh, 214! You can't even imagine what I am capable of!" He held up a small black box with a few buttons on it, a small circle on the side was lit up bright yellow. "You know what this is? It is a very useful tool," he chuckled, "if I turn it up like this," he demonstrated by pressing the top button a few times like the volume of a remote, "then things get even more fun."

The moment Rafael pressed the button, the pain within his skull increased. Pyrros jerked away from him and crashed to the floor, curling his body up like a frightened kitten and still trying to desperately block out the noise by cupping his ears with his hands.

"Interesting, right? It's a device that creates a pitch that the brain is unable to handle. If it's left on for too long then eventually the brain will shut down all together. Oh, but humans aren't able to even hear it. Creatures with hypersensitive hearing are able to though, as you can see." Rafael pressed the circular button on the bottom of the black box, turning the device off completely, "well, seeing as you're an important creation I can't just get rid of you like that."

Pyrros' muscles began to relax as the sound was turned off but he didn't get up from his spot on the floor. He didn't dare move or look up at Rafael for fear that he would turn the sound on again. Pyrros inhaled and exhaled shakily, and his body continued to fidget for several minutes.

"Now, Subject 214. Do you have anything else you'd like to say to me?" Rafael walked back to his chair and sat down.

Looking much like a fish on land, Pyrros forced his body to flop over and face Rafael, sitting on his knees with his forehead pressed down against the floor, "I-I'm sorry for speaking out of term. It won't happen again, Father."

"Good." Rafael spun his chair around, "now leave. Our guests will be here soon. Keep a look out for them."

"Yes, Father." Pyrros could only managed to stumble out of the room, using the wall as a support. The moment he was well clear of Rafael's room, he dropped to the ground once again and released an ear splitting wail of agony. Pyrros had managed to remain fully silent while in the presence of his Creator, not once letting out a scream or even a cry.

_Even with just him…just one man…those three have no chance. Courage, friendship and love are powerless against this man. That's how he's gotten this far. _Pyrros wiped away the tears that threatened to roll down from his eyes. _And he won't give up. That's the kind of man he is. He's proven it so many times. Even me…with these new powers of mine…don't stand a chance. _He looked up toward the front doors of the building, _it's useless. They'll all just die in vain. _

==0==0==0==

The ride seemed to be going well except for the dead silence that lingered in the vehicle. Danny kept his hands on the steering wheel and looked nowhere except forward. Sam sat in the passenger seat and Tucker sat right behind Sam. Very suddenly, the Specter Speeder jerked to the left. Or rather, it wasn't the Specter Speeder, but the driver of the vehicle who seemed to turn the wheel randomly. His eyes closed tightly and he pressed his right hand up against his temple.

"Danny?" Sam shouted with concern. She leaned across instinctively and turned the steering wheel back to its original position so that they continued forward. "Danny, what's wrong?"

"I don't know." Danny blinked a few times and shook his head quickly, "there's this weird noise…it's quiet but…gah!" He groaned, "it's just getting louder."

"Should we stop for a minute?" Tucker suggested, putting his hand on Danny's shoulder. "Or maybe you could give Sam the driver's seat."

Danny reached forward and pressed a small button located to the right of the steering wheel. "It's on auto flight for now, it'll just head straight forward." Danny unbuckled his seat belt and got up from the driver's seat, moving to the back so that Sam could take his spot. He sat next to Tucker, leaning back and gripping his head with his hands.

After only a few minutes, the whining sound stopped. Danny blinked several times, "jeez, what _was_ that? It started so randomly and then just ended. Could you not hear it?"

Tucker shook his head, "what did it sound like?"

"It didn't really sound like anything…it was just like, a really high pitched noise or something."

Sam looked back at the two of them from her spot in the front, "well, it's gone now right? So, it should be okay. Hopefully it doesn't happen again."

Danny nodded, "we should be there soon…" His heart hardened at the idea of seeing Rafael.

He wouldn't turn back now, not until he faced his enemy, or rather, his father.

==0==0==0==

The three of them landed the Specter Speeder as they approached the building. This one was significantly smaller than Rafael's last place but had the same scary feeling to it. The building was white on the outside but had turned a mix of green and brown from the foliage that had taken over. The building had been there for several years, so there was no surprise it was getting worn down.

Together, Danny, Sam and Tucker cautiously walked toward the large building, each of them carrying a weapon in their hand and had stored a variety of useful tools in or on their clothing. "Are you guys ready to do this for the last time?" Danny turned and asked the two of them.

"You know it, dude." Tucker replied.

"Of course." Sam punched him lightly in the shoulder, "and this time, don't do anything stupid that will get you killed!"

Danny smirked, "I'm not very good at refraining from stupidity."

Sam leaned toward him and pecked him lightly on the lips, "I know that."

The double door entrance to the building was wide open, inviting them to walk in. But standing next to the double doors was Pyrros, who leaned against the wall sluggishly. Danny tensed his muscles a bit, expecting Pyrros to attack them at any moment. When he was within talking range, Danny spoke up "you aren't looking too good." It was true, Pyrros looked awful, his eyes were only half open and he seemed to be breathing heavier. "Not too long ago you were just itching to have a battle. What happened to all that energy?" Danny half mocked him, but was actually very curious about what happened.

"Shut up, Phantom." Pyrros stood up straight, "Father is inside waiting."

Danny narrowed his eyes, holding his head high with confidence as he took a step forward to enter the building.

Pyrros' arm shot out like a snake, his fingers tightly wrapped around Danny's wrist, forcing Danny to stop and turn to face him. Danny looked up with a scowl as Pyrros spoke, "you won't leave here alive."

The halfa looked down at Pyrros' hand, which was trembling ever so slightly. "You can't know that for sure, can you?" He looked toward his two friends and then back at the ectoplasmic creature, "I promised them I would make it out alive. And I plan to keep my promise."

_It still doesn't make sense. Where does all that confidence come from? _"This isn't a battle you can win, Phantom! Father has defeated you before, and he'll do it again."

Danny chuckled, "he didn't defeat me. I'm here, aren't I?"

Pyrros released Danny's arm, and with powerful echoing footsteps, Danny marched in through the doors, followed by Sam and Tucker.

Pyrros shook his head with a slight smirk, then took a step inside and closed the doors behind them; leaving it unlocked.

**A/N: I have to thank La Ann for the review that seemed to give me the kick I needed, not in a bad way of course, but her review seemed to encourage me enough to return to this long forgotten story of mine. I can't even remember how long it has been since I last updated this fanfic OR my other fanfic. I totally understand that I will have lost many of my reviewers and followers, but to the few that may still be interested in reading, here is my long awaited chapter. It's a bit short, but I'll try my best to make the next one longer!**

**If you are a reader and can't remember exactly everything that has happened or are forgetting some details, you can message me and ask me any questions you might have about any part of the story so far! **


	33. Raine

Error's Rival

Chapter 33: Raine

Each step echoed louder and louder. Danny had never realized how loud footsteps could be. The room was as hollow and frightening as Rafael's last building. The previous one was stacked head to toe with medical equipment, or rather, experimenting equipment. This new one however didn't seem have any of those, at least, not in this room.

About twelve feet above their heads was the ceiling, where dim lights hung to give them some visibility. There were no windows in sight; the only thing Danny could see was the concrete wall. The room stretched at least the length of a basketball court.

A third the size of what the last place was, but seemed so much larger because of the emptiness. He couldn't see any of Rafael's workers. But, Danny guessed that if there wasn't any equipment to work on, then there would be no need for the workers.

"Not quite what you were expecting, huh?" Pyrros snickered.

"What happened to everything?"

"I destroyed it." A foreign voice pounded like a gong through the room.

Danny could feel the hair on his neck stand up. His teeth began to grind together, "Rafael…" he growled.

"That's him?" Tucker whispered to Sam, who nodded shortly in reply.

Both Danny and Sam knew his face; it was a cold face that had haunted both of them for quite some time. They would never forget it. Tucker on the other hand, didn't have a first hand experience quite like theirs.

Tucker wasn't sure what to expect, but he definitely didn't think it would be an older man with graying black hair and wrinkles beginning to gather on his face. It wasn't until Rafael stepped fully into the light that Tucker could see his eyes, and then he was fully convinced of this man's horror. Those gray eyes seemed lifeless and stained with the blood of many lives. He had never seen eyes like those.

"What about all of the workers?" Danny questioned, his fingers curled in and out repeatedly, anxiously waiting to charge them with ectoenergy.

Laughing heartily, Rafael looked straight at Danny, viewing him as nothing more than a small insignificant creature. "You know full well what I do with things that are of no use to me."

Danny's eyes flared and he took a step forward, "You killed them! All of them!"

"Oh, please!" His smile flattened into a cruel smirk, "you yourself have killed many people before. If they are in my way or threaten my plans, I want nothing to do with them. Which includes _you_." Rafael continued walking toward their group of three as a predator stalking its prey, "I won't forget how you destroyed all of my plans, and what's more, You somehow managed to come back to life. Oh, how sweet this is. Now you're here and I can finally destroy the root of all of my problems. Danny Phantom… no, Subject 112. Once you and your friends are all rotting in hell, I can return to my research." A wide grin spread across his face. "It seems that this time you decided to bring an extra lamb to the slaughter." Rafael looked directly at Tucker.

Rafael had completely crossed the room and was standing before them only a few feet away. "I don't believe we have been introduced," Rafael bowed like a gentleman toward Tucker and straightened back up only a half second later, "my name is Rafael Leonardo."

Tucker tightened his grip on the pistol in his hand, "Tucker Foley. I can't exactly say it's a pleasure."

"Sam Manson, it's lovely to see you again." Rafael flashed a white grin toward her.

"I'll rip your freakin' limbs off, you bastard." Sam heaved in and out with untamed rage, "I plan on getting pay back for what you did to me and Danny several months ago."

"As lively as always I see." Rafael turned his attention to Danny, "it's nice to know that my son has made some nice friends." He took another step forward and brought his hand up, gently touching Danny's cheek with his dry, cold hands. "You look just like your mother. So kind and strong." His hand slid down from Danny's cheek and wrapped around to the back of his neck, where the chip was implanted at the top of his spine. The chip remained under his skin, but no longer worked after Klayton/Venom broke it (Error's Love chapter 35).

Rafael could feel the chip beneath his fingers just barely, "don't you remember when I first gave this to you? So many years ago…ah it feels like just yesterday. I knew, even back then, that you would grow up to be strong. I had hoped that you would see things my way and help me to achieve my goal. But as fate would have it, you ended up just like your mother, stubborn and useless."

Danny's eyes clamped shut. "Get your goddamn hands off of me!" With his right hand, Danny shoved Rafael's arm away. In a blurred movement, Danny continued by bringing his hand up underneath Rafael's chin; sparking ectoenergy radiated off of his fist. He held his hand there for several seconds. "we came here to do one thing only…and that is to defeat you!"

"Really?" Rafael chuckled, "and I thought you were against killing others."

"I said _defeat_ you! The moment you admit defeat then we win! Killing someone doesn't mean you win!"

"It seems we have quite different views on this." Rafael grinned, not affected at all by the glowing fist beneath his chin.

"This time, he has _us_!" Sam raised her gun up, "and it looks like you don't have any of your followers to help you out!"

Rafael barked with laughter and began to back up away from them, "well, you all seem so fired up and ready to do this, huh?" Once he reached the middle of the room he stopped and brought his arms up on either side of him, as though presenting something to an audience. "Let's see how far you can get before you 'admit defeat'."

Danny turned his head to look at Sam and Tucker, "you guys wait here for a minute!" He bent his legs and sprung himself forward, raising his legs up behind him in order to fly.

Sam grit her teeth, "we agreed to fight this one together, remember!" She growled and loaded the gun in her hand before running after Danny.

"Uh, Sam! Maybe we should do what he says!" Tucker groaned, "wait up!" He trailed behind Sam as fast as he could.

The white haired teen released a battle cry, aiming his fist straight for Rafael's head and dove in for the hit. His adrenaline seemed to increase tenfold the closer he came to his enemy with the intent to fight. He wanted to land a punch, to see this man suffer for everything he had caused in the past. Eyes blazing bright green and fist roaring with ectoenergy, Danny drove his fist forward at breakneck speed.

The halfa gasped with horror as his fist connected with nothing but air. The figure of Rafael vanished from sight. "What the hell!" He twisted around, looking frantically left and right.

Sam raised an eyebrow, almost caught up to him. "Danny?"

Danny turned around sharply toward the voice and raised a glowing fist toward the person running after him and fired his built up plasma ray.

Sam let out a small scream as she dropped down to avoid the oncoming ray. Tucker ungracefully fell to the floor, following as Sam had. "What the hell was that for!" Sam barked, "you could've killed us, Danny!"

Danny stepped back with shock, "Sam!"

"Yeah! Who else-" Sam stopped mid sentence as her nostrils filled with a strange, numbing scent. She blinked a few times as her vision seemed to morph right before her. "What the hell?" Sam turned to look at Tucker who seemed to be just as confused as she was. Very quickly, Tucker seemed to distort into a blur before her. She felt as though she were standing in a heavy fog, the two people near her could only be described as hazy pitch black figures.

"What is this?" Tucker barked, "why can't we see anything?"

Sam coughed deeply, "There's something in the air! Don't breathe directly into it!" Sam covered her nose and mouth with the edge of her sleeve, in hopes of avoiding whatever was affecting them. "Danny! Tucker! Cover your nose and mouth!"

Danny looked toward his friends, who he could only see as black shapes in a fog, and raised an eyebrow in confusion. He couldn't hear what Sam was saying, or rather, he couldn't quite understand her. Even though she was only a few feet away, her voice sounded as though it were passing through water. A drowned out echo was all he could hear, no words could be made out from it. _What the hell is this?_ _Rafael did something…is he nearby? I can't see clearly! This way he has an advantage... _

The halfa snarled rabidly and charged up his hands with energy, _I might not see him! But I'll make sure he gets hit with this!_ Releasing the ectoplasm built up from his hands, Danny aimed everywhere he could, while avoiding the two black figures near him. _Hit something! Hit something!_

Danny raged on with his countless number of plasma rays but abruptly stopped the moment he was struck by a purple plasma ray. The burning beam slammed into his back, forcing him to arch forward before crashing to the floor.

"Danny?" Sam shouted into her sleeve, "are you okay!" She squinted, trying to see what had happened.

A hand suddenly wrapped around her wrist, gently. She turned sharply to see who it was, but sighed when she realized, vaguely, that it was Tucker. A small, box shaped object was held up about 2 inches from her face. _Tucker's PDA? _On the small hand held device, Tucker had typed out a few lines.

Sam nodded to him to show she understood.

==0==0==0==

Danny cringed and cried out as another beam of energy forced him further down on the ground. His back was steaming from the plasma rays. He started to push himself up onto all fours when a foot came down onto his back, pushing him back down flat.

"I do have to say, 112, you seem to have changed a lot since our last meeting."

Danny narrowed his eyes. _How can I hear his voice but not hear Sam or Tucker's voices?_ "A lot has happened since then, you bastard!" He snarled beneath his breath, squirming around to try and escape from beneath Rafael's foot.

"You've become much weaker." Rafael chuckled, "but your eyes are much stronger." He looked down at his son with his own cold eyes, seeing the vibrant and lively gleam shine from those green eyes.

Danny smirked, "I'm not afraid of you anymore!"

The last thing Danny had seen before he died was the needle plunging into his arm and the sadistic smile of the man who had ruined his life. He remembered the feeling of horror and sadness as his heart slowed to a stop. Those terrifying moments would forever remain in his memories. But that was the past. Right now, at this time, Danny looked at his enemy without fear. "I'm not afraid of you!" Danny repeated with a short laugh, "all those years! All those years of being scared and being your damn lab rat! You can't scare me anymore! You're nothing! I still have something to live for! You wasted your whole damn life doing nothing but greedy, stupid experiments! You can't control me with fear anymore, Rafael!"

Danny pushed himself up off the ground with one quick motion, throwing Rafael's foot off of his back. He turned to face his creator with flaring green eyes. The fog still blurred his vision, but he could see him well enough.

"Fear isn't the only way to control someone." Rafael grinned back, "I have found that pain is quite persuasive most of the time, you should know that well enough."

The halfa cringed, "Yeah I remember all of the crap you did to us. And you want to know something? You destroyed hundreds of lives and you still don't give a damn about it." Danny brought his hands together, forming a sphere in between his palms of sparking green electricity, "I came here to defeat you because of everything you did to me and Sam. I came here to defeat you to get revenge for Allison, and to save all of the souls that are trapped in that building. I would never be able to face any of them again if I couldn't keep my promise!"

"Which souls are you referring to?" Rafael inquired.

"All of those children you murdered! All of them are waiting painfully each day to be freed from that place! And the only way to do that is to defeat the main source of their pain! In other words, _you_!" Danny thrust the ball of electric energy forward.

"Too easy." Rafael raised his hand, which was covered with a glove that consisted of strong foreign metal that Danny had never seen before. The moment the energy crashed into his outstretched hand, the glove seemed to absorb the energy. "Pathetic attacks like that won't affect me."

==0==0==0==

"Damn! Where does he get all that equipment!" Tucker groaned, "it's pretty annoying." He remained low to the ground, several feet away from Danny and Rafael, viewing them from the side, and with his gun steadied in his hands, he loaded and fired. The recoil of the odd gun nearly sent it flying from his hands, but he managed to hold it.

Rafael hissed and pressed his hand down to his thigh where the bullet had struck. The clothing surrounded the hit area had burnt black and the skin beneath wasn't much better.

"What?" Rafael turned to face Tucker, "how can you see me? You breathed in that poison as well!"

Danny looked toward where Rafael was facing, but could barely see Tucker. _I guess I'm still being affected by that strange fog too. How did Tucker see him?_

Tucker loaded and fired his gun once more, this time the attack only grazed Rafael on the arm. "Crap! I can't hit him well with this stupid fog!"

"You little brat!" Rafael cursed and reached into his coat pocket, "I have no use for you."

Danny's ear twitched at the small whistle that came right before the blast. From the distance, a gun was fired. The shot came from somewhere behind him. Rafael was still within a few feet of him and he was able to see the damage caused.

Rafael's arm had started to reach into his pocket, but only a moment later, the bullet imbedded itself deep within his forearm, jerking his limb away from the pocket completely. Blood splattered along his arm and flung off the ends of his fingers. Rafael's good arm swung over and he covered the wound with his hand. He rotated his body to look at the one who had shot him.

Across the room, Sam brought the barrel of the gun upward, squinting into the misted haze, "did I hit him?" she whispered to herself.

"How?" Rafael growled, "both of you!"

Tucker, not looking directly at Rafael because he couldn't quite see him, replied "whatever that stuff was that you got us with, made it so we couldn't see or hear each other very well. And I don't know _what_ it is, but for some reason, you can see and hear us perfectly, and _we_ can hear you." Tucker held up his PDA, "I was able to see you well enough with my PDA, looking at heat signatures with the camera." Tucker grinned, "cool, huh?" he continued, "and of course, since we are able to hear your voice, Sam knew where to shoot after you started talking."

"You goddamn brats!" Rafael pulled his hand away from the bloody wound, "you may have gotten lucky once. But I can assure you it won't happen again!"

"Sam! Tucker! What-" Danny began to speak but was cut off as a black mass of energy wrapped entirely around his torso.

Sam had been standing in place, not wanting to get in the way of anything that was happening, but not too long afterward, she found herself in the same situation as Danny. Something grabbed her, squeezing her ribs to the point of breaking. She dropped the gun in her hand and uselessly tried to pry away from the strange power.

Tucker could feel the air being pulled out of his lungs as the pitch black substance held him tightly in place.

Danny arched his back and squirmed all around, "what the hell is this!"

"Oh, I guess this is your first time meeting her." Rafael barked with laughter.

Pyrros stood in the far corner, watching the scene unfold before his eyes. He gasped deeply as the girl walked into the room. Every inch of him felt cold. The amount of dark energy that radiated from her made him feel suffocated.

A girl, not much older than ten or eleven entered through the far doors. Her skin was pale as the bones of a corpse, purple veins could be seen all across her body. Her jet black hair whipped around her head, floating and twisting as though she were immersed underwater. The young girl had red eyes and no other colour, only a glowing crimson eye. Her fingers seemed to morph into long, three inch nails that constantly dripped with dark liquid.

Her bare feet didn't make a single noise on the floor. It seemed as though she were floating above it. And there wasn't one single article of clothing to cover her young body, but she hadn't developed at all as a young woman yet. It was like looking at the body of a doll.

Black energy radiated off of her body, darkening everything around her as though it were night.

"This is my newest creation." Rafael introduced.

The fog melted away from view, eaten away by the power that filled the room. Each of them could clearly see the young girl walking toward them.

"I call her Raine."

Danny, Sam and Tucker continued to struggle against the fierce power that enveloped them, but none of them were able to escape.

Danny looked at her with wide eyes. _Another experiment? I thought Pyrros was his latest…but it seems like he was working on something else too!_ As Raine stepped closer, he got a better look at her face. Those emotionless red eyes had no gleam or sparkle in them; she was like a zombie, a living corpse. But a moment later, Danny saw a tear of blood fall from her eye and trickle down her cheek as though she were crying.

**A/N: Blah, blah, boring fight scene! Nothing too climactic or plot twisting yet. Sorry! Next chapter though, I have some fun things set up for our heroes! I like to go a bit crazy during fight scenes! **

**Anyway, I'll post the next chapter hopefully next week! (For updates on chapters and such, you can visit my profile).**


	34. Now or Never

Error's Rival

Chapter 34: Now or Never

_Previously: Danny, Sam and Tucker arrive at Rafael's building. The team didn't do so well at first but gained the upper hand for a little while. That quickly changed when Rafael brought out his new 'weapon': a young (demonic) girl named Raine who overpowered them very easily. While being held by Raine's power, Danny notices that Raine appears to be crying…_

==0==0==0==

"What the hell is this!" Danny wheezed and gasped for air, "What did you create!" Danny was raised off the ground by the ghostly black hand that wrapped around his body. Horizontal to the floor, Danny twisted his head to look at Sam and Tucker, who appeared to be in the same position he was.

"This, my dear child, is what I like to call, a _perfect_ weapon." His cruel smirk widened to a grin, "she obeys my every demand, acknowledges me as her creator to the fullest and will never ask questions."

"So she's just a damn android that you use to do all of your dirty work now? Rather than fight your own battles, you resort to _this_!" Danny's eyes became dangerously bright as he reached deep within himself to draw out more power. "Without your experiments and 'trump cards', you really are useless!"

"It doesn't matter how I play my cards as long as they overpower my opponent." Rafael turned to face the young, black haired girl, "Raine, finish them off."

"Yes, Master." The sweet voice of a young girl rang through the room, gentle and soft as a lullaby.

For a brief moment, Danny couldn't help but look at her as an average little girl. But only for a moment. The cold, dark feeling that had already filled the room became chilling to the bone, and every light on the ceiling seemed to dim to a small glow.

The hands that clasped each of them tightened impossibly further. Danny could see the fingers curl over his abdomen, and the sharp dagger-like nails drove straight into his body, cutting clean and smooth as a scalpel. His eyes widened to the point he thought his eyeballs might pop from his head. His head flung back and green blood poured out from his mouth, staining his teeth green and dripping all over his face, chin and neck.

Sam didn't quite have the body that Danny did. One of Danny's unique abilities that was very convenient for him was the fact that he healed incredibly. Even life threatening wounds were able to vanish within a few minutes, as long as he had enough ghost energy to spare. Being a human, she wasn't so lucky. The nails driving into her body was like nothing she could have imagined. Thankfully, the fingers didn't push straight through; in fact, it barely went past her skin.

Tucker nearly fainted seeing the blood gather along his torso. This entire situation seemed so unreal. He couldn't bring himself to believe what he was seeing. "Goddamn it!" The pain seemed slow to process in his brain but soon enough struck him like lightning.

_If I pass out, I'll die! _Sam's hand clenched into a ball, _I can't rely on others to help me! They're in the same situation! Do something! Do something! _With her fist, she swung downward and punched the small button attached to her vest, activating the Specter Deflector.

The hand that was wrapped around Sam dropped her to the floor with a _thud_ and quickly vanished from sight. For several seconds, Sam lay there sprawled out across the floor, bleeding heavily. _You promised yourself you wouldn't be useless! Get up and help! _Sam internally yelled at herself. The agony burned through each wound relentlessly.

_Just breathe…calm down and breathe. Ignore the pain. If I treat it soon then it won't be fatal. If Danny or Tucker die now because I was too weak to move, I wouldn't be able to live with that! Damn it! Move! _With a scream of agony, Sam forced herself to move her arms, reaching down and pulling out two ecto-pistols from her pockets. With her leg, she kicked the ground and used the momentum to roll her body over to face where the young girl stood. While lying on her side, Sam outstretched her arms and fired the two pistols again and again.

The recoil of each blast jerked her arm backward a bit, and each movement seemed to make the wounds hurt more. Tears dripped from her eyes, smudging across her skin or creating small puddles on the floor.

Tucker watched as Sam had activated her Specter Deflector and willed his body to do the same. He slowly reached down to the center of his metal belt and pressed it. The hand reacted as it had to Sam. Not wanting to touch him because of his defensive belt, he was dropped to the ground ungracefully.

Sam stopped her onslaught of bullets, turning to look at Tucker with relief.

The boy groaned and pressed his hands up to his body and attempt to cover the places where Raine had pierced him with her strange ability.

Sam looked back at Raine and saw what seemed like hundreds of bullet holes covering her body. None of them bled; not even a little bit. Breathing heavily and shakily, Sam put the guns down by her side, letting her body rest for a few moments. _Why didn't she even try to dodge those bullets?_ _Does she really only obey what Rafael tells her to and nothing else?_

Danny could only watch as his friends managed to escape from Raine's grasp and now he could see them lying there in pain. He closed his eyes tightly, desperately pulling out more of his ghostly energy for use. Releasing a throat straining battle cry, Danny reused an ability he hadn't done in a very long time.

Sam heard Danny's yell and quickly glanced up at him, he was still being tightly held by Raine's power. She could see his energy flaring up all around his body. The blood on her stomach began to clear away and seal up inside of her body once more, closing up as though the wound had never been there.

Tucker had kept his hand clasped over his own injuries to try and keep it from bleeding. Within a few moments, that wasn't necessary anymore. The pain and wounds were dragged away from his body, leaving him in a near-perfect state. His yellow shirt didn't have the same luck that his flesh did; the rips remained as they were.

"Danny!" Sam fumbled to a stand, "what are you doing! That is going to take up too much of your power!"

The halfa cried out in agony as the pain and wounds of his friends transferred to his own body in addition to the ones he already received.

The strange black blood that seemed to flow through Raine's veins was constantly dripping from her fingers. The nails that dug into Danny's body caused a few drops to fall into his own bloodstream. Like a poisonous virus, the black blood spread through him. The colour started to spider-web across his skin, changing it from a pale white into a solid black colour. His eyes slowly faded to a blank white.

"Danny!" Tucker cried, "answer us!"

"Danny!" Sam rushed forward and reached up to try and grab a hold of him. But Raine held him well out of reach. "You bitch!" Sam sharply spun to face the young girl, "what did you do to him!"

Rafael laughed heartily, "ah, it looks like 112 will receive a taste of Raine's true power."

"True power?" Tucker muttered beneath his breath.

Rafael replied, having heard Tucker's confusion, "Raine is, to put it simply, a poisonous virus in its greatest form. Only those who are directly infected can know the true horror of her abilities."

Sam glared at the young girl who hadn't moved from her spot. She looked just as emotionless and dead as she did when she first walked in. Even with all of the bullet holes in her, she didn't react. _My attacks on her didn't work at all. What can we do to get Danny away! Tucker and I were lucky that we had our Specter Deflectors…but Danny doesn't have anything like that! _"Danny! Hang in there!" Sam called to him in hopes that he would hear her despite his comatose state.

==0==0==0==

"Where the hell am I?" Danny scratched his head in confusion, looking all around him at the endless black void.

A young girl's chuckle echoed through his ear. He jumped with surprise, and twisted around, expecting to see someone. "Hello?" Danny called out, "is there someone here?"

The snickering giggle rang all around him once more, "he~y Ghost Boy!" The sing-song words shuttered demonically through his soul, "wanna play a ga~me?"

"Are you Raine?"

"How'd you guess?" She taunted.

"Where are you?" Danny narrowed his eyes, still constantly turning his head expecting her to sneak up on him somehow.

"I'm right here. Right in front of you. Behind you. Above you. I'm everything. This is my world. You are helpless here!" Raine laughed heartily with that young voice.

"Why are you doing this? Why are you working for Rafael?" Danny's heart began to beat faster and a drop of sweat slithered down the side of his face with worry. He couldn't see her at all, yet he could hear her voice so clearly. She was right, he was helpless here.

"Oooh, getting scared, Ghost Boy? I can see you shaking. I can feel your heartbeat." A hand manifested itself inches away from Danny's chest. Danny looked down at the small child's hand. She pressed her palm up against his heart, "I'll rip that heart right out of your chest and see the light fade from your eyes!"

An arm became visible, attached to the hand that had appeared and slowly Raine's entire body was in front of him. Her features were exactly as they were in the outside world, except that this young girl didn't have the demonic features as the other one did. Her hand didn't have long black nails; her eyes were a normal, beautiful blue colour; she didn't have pointed ears and her hair didn't flow in all directions. This, Danny thought to himself, was just a little girl, not a creature.

"What's wrong, Ghost Boy?" The sweet little girl tilted her head.

"Y-you're just a kid! Why are you-"

She giggled lightly, "I'm not-" her smile widened all the way across her face, showing rows of knife-sharp teeth, and her eyes began to flame red, and with a deep, earth rumbling roar she continued, "-as innocent as I look!"

Danny gasped and took a quick step backward. A hand came from behind and wrapped around his neck, grabbing a hold of his throat with sharp talons. He extended his neck as far as he could, holding his breath.

The disembodied hand remained on his throat. He could feel the sharp points of the nails on his skin. _She could easily tear my throat open right now._

The demonic girl in front of him began to levitate, her eyes now slightly above his own eyelevel so that she looked down on him. Her hair began to wave around her wildly like before. "You betrayed Father. Father's orders are law! You disgusting half-ghost! There was no chance in hell that you could ever win! You, and your friends will all die! I'll rip those two humans apart limb by limb until their blood has soaked the floor! They'll scream in agony and I'll make you watch! Father will be so pleased!" She began to laugh maniacally, "Father has no need for failed experiments!"

Danny grit his teeth, "my friends and I will all walk out of here alive!"

"Oh really? You've been here for, what? Ten minutes? It doesn't matter what equipment or weapons you bring…you can't win!"

The hand on Danny's throat tightened, the tips of the nails pierced him and thin trickles of blood ran down his neck. He gasped, but continued to stare at Raine. "Yes we can. You can too!"

"Why would I want to do that!"

"You could leave this place! You don't have to work for Rafael! I saw your eyes, they seemed sad and lonely. You can live a better life and be happy!"

Raine took a brief step back and held her stomach as she laughed. "Ooh, that's quite a request. But, I'll have to decline." She straightened up, "Even if I wanted to, I'm smart enough to know that I would die if I tried to leave this place."

"_I _managed to escape! I was in the same position as you!" The hand on Danny's throat yanked him backward, pulling him down to the floor with an iron grip. He brought his hands up to try and pull the fingers away from him, but he just fazed right through them. "Gak!" He heaved in an out through his nostrils. Danny continued to stare up at Raine while struggling to break free of the hand.

"Don't put me in the same position as you, Ghost Boy! You are still partially human and have emotions! Look at _us_! Me and Pyrros. We _aren't _like that!" Raine glided down and brought her face close to his, her body hovering horizontally above his own, "_we _can't change."

Black energy began to seep from her body like a fog, Danny could feel it suffocating him like a heavy blanket.

"You're wrong." Danny coughed, "you have emotions too. You're mad right now. You can think for yourself. That's an emotion, right? Pyrros too! I can see life in his eyes just as I can see life in your eyes right now. Don't think that Rafael controls you just because he created you! Nothing good will ever come from it! So just think for yourself now!" The hand on his neck loosened and he brought his head forward a bit, "are you going to be Rafael's puppet! If you help me defeat him, you can be free to do whatever you want!"

Raine's eyes were wide. Only a few seconds after he finished his sentence, she roared with the power of a lion, "It's _never_ that easy! You delusional half-breed!"

"I didn't _say_ it was easy! But it _is_ worth it!"

Raine looked into his eyes, she could see the strength gleaming within him. That will to never give up. Never before had she seen eyes quite like that.

The black void that the two of them were in began to shake fiercely. Danny looked around him, "what's happening!"

Raine brought her hands up to each side of her head and groaned in pain,

==0==0==0==

The young girl stood in the same place, not moving at all. Everyone watched as her red eyes became wide, as though in a trance. Tears of blood streamed down her cheeks. Her mouth parted and she moaned quietly.

From the other side of the room, the silent and unmoving Pyrros vanished from his spot and reappeared next to Raine. Faster than eyes could follow, his arm lashed out and he grabbed a hold of her neck and slammed her against the wall. The concrete cracked behind her from the impact.

Sam and Tucker gasped with surprise, watching as Pyrros pinned Raine up against the wall by the neck. His teeth bore from his snarling mouth, "snap out of it." He growled.

The black misty hand that held Danny above the ground vanished completely, dropping the halfa, and he hit the floor with a loud _thud_.

"What are you doing!" Rafael barked at Pyrros.

Pyrros, while still holding Raine against the wall, turned his head to glare at Rafael, "making her use that power will destroy her! You know that!"

Sam and Tucker took the time that those two were arguing to rush over to Danny. His skin remained fully black and his eyes were pale white. "Danny! Answer me!" Sam pressed her ear up to his chest to listen for a heartbeat, "come on, wake up!"

Rafael fumed with absolute fury, "I did _not_ give you an order! Do not act on your own, Pyrros!"

Pyrros smirked cruelly. He relaxed his hold on Raine and let her slide down to the ground before turning to face Rafael completely. Like before, with a speed too fast for a human to see, Pyrros appeared in front of his creator, "fight your own battles." A ball of flaming ectoplasm gathered in his hand and he drove his fist into Rafael's gut, throwing him backward several yards.

Sam and Tucker both gaped with absolute shock at what they had just witnessed.

Pyrros' entire body ignited with scorching hot flames. He sharply turned and walked toward Sam, Tucker and Danny.

Instinctively, Sam and Tucker raised their weapons toward Pyrros.

"Shoot if you want, but I won't be able to help that idiot if you do!" He dropped to his knees next to Danny. Sam and Tucker had to scoot away to avoid being burned. "Wake up you stupid half-ghost! You're not done fighting yet!" He brought both of his clawed hands down onto Danny's abdomen. The flames from his hands began to burn away Danny's suit, but his skin didn't seem to be affected. The black virus that had swollowed him up began to vanish. The black on his skin slowly withered away until he was back to normal.

Pyrros pulled his hands back and stood up.

Danny's eyes opened and with a smirk he said, "you finally decided to join the party, Pyrros?" He let out a light groan as he rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself to a stand. The top half of his black outfit had been severely burned to the point that it seemed to not exist. It only held together by a few thin strings.

"Danny!" Sam's eyes lit up, "you're okay!"

"Sorry for making you worry." Danny replied with a small smile.

Tucker leaned toward Sam, "so, explain to me, why is the bad guy helping us?" He whispered.

Sam shrugged, having wondered the same thing. The way Danny had just spoken to Pyrros made it seem like he knew Pyrros would help them.

Danny walked up to stand next to Pyrros, "is Raine alright?"

"She'll wake up soon. I don't know what she'll do after that."

Sam looked at Danny, with his shirt burnt away she could clearly see the scars on his body that he had obtained throughout his life. The one that stood out the most was the large X on his back that went from his shoulders to the opposite hip. She remembered that scar and remembered him telling her for the first time about it and all of the things about Rafael.

Sam clamped her eyes shut for a moment and inhaled deeply. She relaxed her muscles and exhaled as she loaded two guns in her hands. _That's right. We're here to defeat Rafael for everything he's done in the past. We won't let him get away with any of this! It's now or never. _

Tucker followed as Sam had, tightly holding his gun in hand, ready to battle.

Danny gathered green ectoenergy in both of his hands, "You ready, guys? Warm up's over!"

Rafael stood up from where he had been thrown, "that was a good punch, Pyrros. Looks like I wasn't able to trust you after all. I should have known you would join them."

"Ha! Don't misunderstand!" Pyrros replied, "Only reason I'm helpin' them is because we have a common goal right now."

"I see." Rafael gave a half-hearted sigh, "it won't do any good. I can defeat you four on my own." He raised his hand up into the air, "I think you'll find that I'm more powerful than I look." Yellow sparks danced on his fingertips.

Danny's eyes grew wide, "you have powers!"

His question was answered as Rafael snapped his fingers. From his hand, a bolt of lightning shot forward.

"Shit!" Danny threw his hands forward and forced a barrier around the four of them. The lightning bolt exploded into thousands of small sparks from the shield.

"When did you get powers!" Sam barked, more out of fear than anger.

"I have been studying supernatural powers long before you all were born. Did you really believe that I wouldn't give myself some?"

Danny's brows pulled together, "but you never used them before!"

"I never had a reason to." Rafael casually replied.

"Not even last time we fought!"

"I didn't need them. I killed you without the use of any powers, didn't I? Even now, I don't know if I will need them. But considering it's four to one right now, I think it's appropriate to use them. Not to mention, it's been quite a while since I fought. If I don't use my powers at all I'll get rusty."

"Bastard…" Danny ground his teeth together, continuing to hold up his ghost shield.

"Are you just going to hide beneath your little shield for the rest of the day?" Rafael took a few steps forward, "what happened to all that confidence from before?"

Danny looked toward his two friends, "Sam, Tucker, don't you dare get hit by his lightning!"

"Same goes for you, dude!" Tucker smiled lightly.

"We're all walking out of here alive! You hear me!"

Pyrros shook his head and sighed, "that optimism is so childish."

Danny reluctantly released the shield that protected all of them.

Rafael chuckled lightly and raised his hand up, bringing his thumb and middle finger together, "too easy." He snapped his fingers. A flash of lightning once again exploded from his hand toward the small group of teens.

**A/N: I just realized this…why does Danny seem to lose his shirt during battles in my fanfics? Maybe I wasn't happy with the lack of shirtless Danny in the show and want to make up for it with my stories…**

**Anyway, sorry for the late update. Again, I'm telling my readers that if you want to know why any chapters are late or anything, I have been putting updates and info in my profile. And feel free to send me a message for whatever reason! Thanks!**


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